شيوع هپاتيت B و C در بيماران همودياليزي رشت

Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C Infection in Hemodialysis Patients of Rasht (The center of Guilan province, Northern part of Iran)

Background and objective: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus(HCV) infection are significant health problems ,as they can lead to chronic active hepatitis, liver cirrhosis ,and hepatic carcinoma. Factors associated with HBV propagation include blood and derivates transfusion, duration and frequency of haemodialysis, equipment contamination and contact among patients as well among them and health-care workers. Transmission of HCV through dialysis units, has shown a progressive increase worldwide, ranging from 5% in some western countries to 70% in some developing countries. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of HBV and HCV infections in hemodialysis patients of Rasht (The center of Guilan province, North of Iran). Materials and methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed on 163 chronic (>6 months) hemodialysis patients. Patients from the hemodialysis unit of Rasht were interviewed. The following data were collected: name, age, gender, duration of dialysis. Blood samples were collected and screened for HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies by a third-generation enzyme-linked immunossay (ELISA). Qualitative HCV determination in ELISA positive cases(after two tests )was performed by QIAGEN OneStep RT-PCR kit (assay sensitivity 100 copies/mL) Results: Five patients were HBsAg positive (3.06%) and 30 were anti HCV antibody positive by ELISA (18.40%). HCV positivity was confirmed in 17(10.42%) patients by PCR. All patients had minimum two and maximum three dialysis session in the week. Mean age in HBsAg positive was 47.3years and all of them were male. Duration of dialysis was 8-12 years in all five HBsAg positive patients. Mean age in HCV positive patients was 42.3 years. 66% of HCV positive patients were male and 33.33% of them were female. Duration of dialysis was 0-4 years in 33.33 % of HCV positive patients, 4-8 years in 26.66% of cases, 8-12 years in 20% and 12-16years in 20% of them. Conclusion: This project suggests that hepatitis C infection presents high prevalence in patients undergoing dialysis and Anti-HCV Ab test should be performed before schedule of them .Although some references donʹt suggest isolation of dialysis setting for this group of patients, strategies such as closed control of services given to these patients such as blood transfusion and also training the personnels of hemodialysis units for preventing of infection seems to be necessary.