Prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus seropositivity among tribal and non-tribal voluntary blood donors of Rangamati, Bangladesh

INTRODUCTION: Prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus seropositivity is not defined among blood donors of Rangamati district of Bangladesh. This region is mainly inhabited by tribal population of multiethnic stocks. Government policy formulation for tribal health is lacking data on this issue among tribal population of Bangladesh. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study on eight years data from 2005 to 2013 carried out to define hepatitis B and C virus related seropositivity among tribal and non-tribal voluntary blood donors in Rangamati General Hospital. RESULTS: A total of 4974 unit of blood were screened during this period. Of them 2760 unit were from tribal and 2214 unit from non-tribal donors. Result shows there is higher prevalence of hepatitis B seropositivity among tribal donors («=100) compared to non-tribal (n =26). The prevalence rate for hepatitis B virus was 3.62% for tribal population and 1.17% for non-tribal population. This difference was statistically significant (p< 0.0001). Hepatitis C seropositivity was low in both groups. CONCLUSION: In Rangamati tribal population bear significantly higher burden of hepatitis B infection than non-tribal population. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jucms.v1i4.9571 Journal of Universal College of Medical Sciences (2013) Vol.1 No.04: 33-36