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Volume 12 Issue 2 ( April- June) 2023

Original Articles

Role of Rapid Card Test and Enzyme- Linked Immuosorbent Assay for Detection of HCV Infection in Patients Attending a Tertiary Care and Teaching Hospital, in the Doda area of Jammu and Kashmir
Dr. Sameera Akhtar, Dr. Lakbir Singh, Dr. Rajinderjit Singh Ahi

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are a major contributor to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Early detection and curative treatment of HCV can reduce the risk of liver-related mortality and serve to prevent transmission of new infections. Although HCV detection by the Immunochromatography (ICT) method is one of the most popular methods, enzyme linked Immuosorbent assay (ELISA) and nucleic acid test methods are considered more reliable. The detection of an HCV infection in suspected patients utilizing a dependable rapid technique therefore takes hours. Aims and Objective: The current investigation was conducted to assess the comparative efficiency of ELISA and fast screening (ICT) procedure for the diagnosis of HCV in suspected cases of viral hepatitis. Methods & Materials: Blood samples from patients from different IPD and OPD departments were analyzed for anti-HCV antibodies by both ICT and ELISA, with ELISA being the gold standard in the Department of Microbiology, Govt. Doda Medical College. Result: The overall incidence of HCV was observed to be 0.55%. Of a total of 3623 patients, 2420 (66%) were male and the remainder (33%) were female. The overall performance activity of ICT with ELISA is presented in Table 1. The ELISA methodology appears to have better sensitivity and specificity compared to ICT. Conclusion: Rapid diagnostic tests can be employedduring emergency hours, but their outcomes must be followed by ELISA test results at a tertiary care hospital. Reporting of false negative results should be minimized to offer a quick link to treatment initiation and avoid silent transmission of infection. Although EIA has a higher range of sensitivity, its cost and laborious process may make it less desirable than ICT in our country of limited resources and high caseload.

 
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