Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infections among populations in Rohingya refugee camps, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose: Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that particularly affects the liver. The infection often gets early in life and remains an asymptomatic gradually progressive disease. In Bangladesh, the 8th most common cause of death is the liver disease and the age-adjusted death rate is 19.26 % per 100,000 population. The hepatitis C virus can result in acute or chronic infections. The data on the prevalence of HCV in Bangladesh are limited. Study Design: Our recent study is to undertake a pilot study among the general population in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Our study was conducted with a total of 2,146 samples and tested for anti-HCV among the Rohingya general community in the Camps from January 2022 to December 2022. Results: Out of 2,146 individuals, 35% were positive and 65% were negative. Among the total positive cases, 85% were female and 15% were male. Among all the individuals, the positive cases categorized into old adults, middle-aged adults, and young adults that corresponds to 8%, 33%, and 60%, respectively. The highest number of positive cases were found in June (9.43%), July (15.09%), and August (13.75%). The lowest number of positive cases was found in January (3.37%), April (3.91%), and September (6.60%). Conclusions: Our study has resulted in increased knowledge about the prevalence of hepatitis C in the Rohingya community and there is an urgent need to accelerate the implementation of hepatitis elimination strategies among the Rohingya community and other marginalized populations in Bangladesh.