COMPARISON OF FOURTH GENERATION ELISA AND RAPID DIAGNOSTIC TEST FOR DIAGNOSIS OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS(HCV) INFECTION IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL.

Abstract

Introduction:Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has emerged as one of the major global health challenge affecting about 2 - 3% of the world population. Epidemiological studies have shown that HCV infection is a major risk factor for development of Acute hepatitis,chronic liver disease,cirrhosis and Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Early diagnosis of HCV is important to link hepatitis testing to care and treatment initiation. Aim:To compare sensitivity and specificity of rapid diagnostic test (RDT) with fourth generation ELISA Material and Method: This study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences (formerly Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research) and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital from January 2018 to December 2018.Blood samples of patients suspected with hepatitis were tested using ELISA and rapid diagnostic test Results: In our study 26378 blood samples were tested for HCV,using fourth generation ELISA.Of these,581(2.20%) samples were found to be positive by ELISA.These HCV positive samples along with equal number of ELISA negative samples were tested by rapid diagnostic test. Sensitivity and specificity of the rapid diagnostic test was found to be 72.98 % and 100% respectively. Discussion:Rapid diagnostic test can be used during emergency hours but their results must be followed by ELISA test results in a tertiary care hospital.Reporting of false negative results should be minimized for rapid linkage to treatment initiation and to avoid silent transmission of infection.