Prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in haemodialysis patients

Abstract

The prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B exposure and antibodies against the hepatitis C virus (anti‐HCV) was assessed in 86 haemodialysis patients at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) using the commercial radioimmunoassay and ortho HCV ELISA assay. Of the 86 patients included in the study, 42 were male with a mean age of 44.9 years and a mean duration of dialysis of 2.4 years. Forty‐four were female with a mean age of 48.4 years and a mean duration of dialysis of 2.3 years. Hepatitis B exposure was 57% and 12.8% of haemodialysis patients were positive for HBsAg, whereas 39.8% of patients were positive for anti‐HCV. There was a significant correlation (P=0.00007) between anti‐HCV positivity and the length of time on haemodialysis. However, there was no significant correlation found between the number of blood transfusions received and anti‐HCV positivity. There was also no significant correlation found between HBsAg and antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti‐HBc) positivity and the number of blood transfusions or the length of time on haemodialysis, nor between hepatitis B and C exposure and elevated aminotransferase levels.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Virus Infections among Patients with Chronic Renal Failure in Zabeed City, Yemen Republic

“…In accord [12] [14] studies results which did not show significant differences in regard to age between hemodialysis patients with HBV or HCV infection compared with hemodialysis patients without HBV or HCV infection whereas, this does not comply with [21] study that reported a statistically significant relationship between HBV infection and age of the patients in a way that patients aged less than 40 years were found to be more susceptible to HBV than older patients. This observation is in agreement with a previous report from Libya showing that the highest prevalence of HCV antibodies was observed in HD patients aged 36 -55 years [17]. These results are in agreement with the results of our study which showed statistically significant relationship was found between HBV and patients aged less than 40 years were found to be more susceptible than older patients.…”

“…On the other hand, 14 Studies carried out in various centers worldwide among dialysis patients have shown a prevalence of HCV as 8% -36% in North America, [16] 25% -39% in South America, [17] 1% -36% in Europe, [18] 17% -51% in Asia, [4] 1.2% -10% in New Zealand and Australia, [4] [16] and 7% -85% in South Africa [2] have reported that among patients on hemodialysis 5.9% were HCV positive while, 1.4% patients had HBV infection and 3.7% had infection with HBV and HCV [12]. Chandra et al have reported that among the patients of chronic kidney disease, renal transplant orhemodialysis, HBV, HCV and infection of both viruses were 7.46% and 37.10% respectively these results are not agreement to the results of our study [19].…”

Viral hepatitis infections among dialysis patients: Thailand registry report

“…Our findings were similar to the reports of studies in general population showing that a higher prevalence was found in a sexually active age group (15–59 years of age) and was higher in male than in female 27–29 . Survival analysis showed that the mean duration of acquiring HBV infection was 59.5 months, which was longer than other studies 4,20 . This may be due to short duration of observation (2002–2003) in our study.…”

“…Similar to HBV infection, it was reported that the prevalence and incidence of HCV infection decreased among HD patients during 1992–2002 in USA 14–17 . In contrast, the prevalence of HCV infection in Asian countries remains high 20,21,30–32 . In Thailand, the prevalence of HCV‐positive in dialysis patients decreased from 20% to 4.3% during 1994–2003 13 .…”

“…In USA, the prevalence and incidence of HBsAg positivity among HD patients decreased from 7.8% to 1.0% and 3% to 0.12%, respectively, during 1976–2002 14–17 . Other reports also showed high prevalence and incidence of HBV infection among patients on maintenance dialysis particularly in Eastern Europe, Central America and large parts of Asia 18–21 …”