Investigating the concurrent presence of HCV in serum, oral fluid and urine samples from chronic HCV patients in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is normally present in the blood of infected patients; however, it can also be present in some other body fluids. Therefore, in this study, a concurrent presence of HCV-RNA was investigated in oral fluid and urine of 80 Pakistani chronic HCV patients. HCV-RNA was detected in 31 (38.8%) oral fluid and 10 (12.5%) urine samples using RT-PCR in all 80 of the patients whose sera tested positive for HCV-RNA. From this study, it is concluded that, in addition to the blood, HCV RNA can also be found in oral secretions as well as urine of chronic HCV patients.