Pre-surgical tests for viral hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus -a hidden danger

Introduction: There are reasons that patients negative for Hepatitis B (HBV), Hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV on Pre-surgical tests  may still be  infected with either of these virus and  may be potentially dangerous for others. A new danger is that Sero-positive patients  may get forged negative report to save  the cost of Personal protective equipments (PPE ) used in their surgery. 
Material & Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at Pankaj ENT Hospital, Lucknow, India. on the patients who were admitted for elective operations for ENT surgeries between March 2014 to December 2019. In all serological negative patients in Pre-surgical tests Rapid Diagnostic card tests (RDT) were done just before surgery and results analyzed.
Results: HBV was 0.23%, HCV was 0.05% and HIV 0.02% which was much less than other studies. There was male dominance in all three viral infections and most common age group involved was 12 to 45 years age. 3 patients with Hepatitis B and one with Hepatitis C was found positive in  RDT on the day of surgery while they all had negative serological reports in pre-surgical test battery.
Conclusion: Rapid Diagnostic Tests for HBV, HCV and HIV doing just prior to surgery at the hospital itself would be a good practice to reduce the chances of getting these infections by the surgeon, hospital staff and to other patients. It is easy, cheap and fast.