Authors : Esam I. Azhar, Ghazi A. Jamjoom, Ahmed K. Al-Ghamdi, Adeel G. Chaudhary, Saeed M. Al-Ghamdi , Sherif A. El-Kafrawy and Faisal A. Shaheen
Abstract: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is one of the major health problems worldwide. Hemodialysis patients are at an increased risk of acquiring HCV and the prevalence of HCV in hemodialysis patients is generally higher than the general population. The present research is a prospective followup study of the HCV infection in hemodialysis patients attending two dialysis centers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. About 75 and 39 patients were enrolled from King Abduaziz University Hospital and King Fahd General Hospital in Jeddah, respectively. Blood samples were tested for HCV-Ab and HCV RNA at enrollment and negative samples were followed up for a period of 18 months. At KAUH center, researchers found an HCV RNA prevalence of 4/60 (6.7%) one of them had negative HCV-Ab result indicating a case of recent infection. Three other cases were HCV-Ab positive but negative for RNA. Of the 39 cases enrolled at KFGH, we found 22 samples to be positive for HCV RNA 15 of them were HCV-Ab positive while 7 were HCV-Ab negative (recent infection). The results showed that the recommended screening of the hemodialysis patients every 6 months is inadequate in centers with high transmission rate. Strict screening of such transmission is essential preferably every 2-3 months. Researchers recommend to use the HCV-RNA screening by the most sensitive PCR assays, in addition to HCV-Ab, to screen the patients attending hemodialysis centers to decrease the window period, help to detect recent infections and better control transmission.
Esam I. Azhar, Ghazi A. Jamjoom, Ahmed K. Al-Ghamdi, Adeel G. Chaudhary, Saeed M. Al-Ghamdi , Sherif A. El-Kafrawy and Faisal A. Shaheen, 2011. A Prospective Study of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Hemodialysis Patients in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Tropical Medicine, 6: 124-128.