[Prevalence of Anti-HCV antibody in haemodialysis patients referring to haemodialysis unit of Jahrom]

Hepatitis C virus [HCV] is a major cause of chronic liver disease among chronic renal failure [CRF] patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HCV infection in patients on haemodialysis of Jahrom. This cross-sectional study was caaried out on all haemodialysis patients of Jahrom in April - May 2006. All patients were screened for anti-HCV antibodies, using ELISA and confirmed by using RIBA methods. We found that 3 patients [8.8%] were anti-HCV positive by ELISA and 2 [5.9%] patients were confirmed by using RIBA methods. Seroprevalence of HCV in the heamodialysis patients of Jahrom was 5.9% that is lower than seroprevalence of HCV in haemodialysis patients of other countries