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A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY TO ASSESS THE PREVELENCE OF TREATMENT RELATED ANEMIA IN PATIENTS WITH HEPATITIS C

Dr. Saba Aziz, Dr Zara Arshad, Dr Anum Rizwan

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of treatment-related anemia in chronic hepatitis C patients receiving ribavirin and pegylated interferon alpha in combination therapy. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the department of medicine, Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi from June 2019 to November 2019. A total of 50 subjects with hepatitis C in chronic stage were nominated for interferon-alpha and ribavirin at standard doses for 24 weeks. Results: During the study period, the majority of the patients were between 41 and 50 years of age, ie 32% (n = 16), and the mean and standard deviation were 38.33 + 4.60, and 38% (n =19) were male and 62% (n = 31) were female. The treatment given for 2 weeks, the incidence of treatment-induced anemia was 24% (n = 12) and they were anemic. Conclusion: The frequency of treatment-related anemia in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with ribavirin and pegylated interferon alpha in the 2nd week of treatment suggests significant anemia. Key words: Anemia, treatment, hepatitis C.

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