Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and human immunodeficiency virus in a cohort of Egyptian hemophiliac children

The risk of blood-borne infections, especially hepatitis C virus [HCV] and human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] infection still remains in developing countries among children receiving blood products as hemophiliacs, but the risk is not known in Egypt. The objective of this study was to detect the prevalence of HCV and HIV infection among hemophiliac children to know the magnitude of the problem and determine potential risk factors. This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 100 hemophiliac children that assessed the liver clinically and by laboratory tests. All children were screened for HCV and HIV antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Those with positive HCV antibody titre were tested by polymerase chain reaction [HCV-PCR]. Forty were positive for HCV antibodies with 19 children [47.5%] HCV-PCR positive as well. The mean age, average frequency of bleeds/year, dose of replacement therapy/year and alanine aminotransferase [ALT] levels were significantly high in HCV-antibody and PCR positive patients as compared to HCV antibody and PCR negative ones. None of our patients had clinical evidence of hepatic involvement or was co-infected with HIV HIV infection does not appear to be a current health problem in Egyptian hemophiliac children though the prevalence of HCV infection is still high

Distribution of hepatitis C virus genotypes in iranian patients with congenital bleeding disorders

Chronic hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection is the major cause of liver disease related morbidity and mortality in hemophilic patients who needs regular blood product administration. Although genotype of infecting HCV is one of the prime predictors of response to antiviral therapy however, its distribution in hemophilic patients is still unclear and just few studies with low sample sizes have investigated this issue. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to identify this distribution in 367 Iranian hemophilic patients. Blood samples were received from 367 hemophilic patients with chronic hepatitis C detected during a nationwide screening program who referred to our center for therapeutic measures. HCV RNA viral load was detected using Amplicor test [Version 2]. Genotyping was performed by genotype specific primers. HCV genotype distribution was 1a in 58%, 3a in 18.5%, 1b in 14.7%, 4 in 1.1%, 2 in 0.8% and mixed in 6.2% and finally 0.5% of isolates were non-typable. Serum liver enzymes were not associated with HCV viral load and genotypes. Patients with severe bleeding tendency had significantly lower serum liver enzymes than those with a mild bleeding tendency. Genotype 1a followed by 3a and 1b were the most frequently detected HCV genotypes in Iranian hemophilic patients and there was no association between splenomegaly and viral markers and liver enzymes in these patients

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and HCV genotypes among hemophiliacs in the State of Bahia, Northeastern Brazil: analysis of serological and virological parameters

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar parâmetros sorológicos e virológicos em hemofílicos no Estado da Bahia. O anti-VHC foi investigado por ELISA em uma coorte de 268 hemofílicos A/B sob acompanhamento em uma unidade de referência do Estado da Bahia. A viremia do VHC e genótipos foram determinados em um subgrupo de 66 hemofílicos soropositivos para o anti-VHC. A soroprevalência do anti-VHC entre os hemofílicos foi de 42,2% (IC 95% 36,5-48,1) e foi associada significativamente (p<0,05) a idade >10 anos, presenca de anticorpos antifator VIII/IX e outros marcadores sorológicos de infeccão. Nenhum dos hemofílicos com idade inferior a 5 anos foram anti-VHC positivos. A viremia foi detectada em 77,3% (51/66), sendo o genótipo 1 do VHC (74%) o mais prevalente, seguido pelos genótipos 3 (22%) e 2 (4%). Nossos resultados indicam que a prevalência do VHC é ainda alta entre os hemofílicos, muito embora a transmissão não tenha sido observada entre os menores de 5 anos.

Seroepidemiologic HGV in blood donors haemodialysis patients, haemophiliacs and major beta thalassemics with history of liver disease

The prevalence of GBV-C and HGV in blood donor populations in developd countries based on HGV detection and anti-E2 screening ranges from 1 to 5 and 3 to 14% respectively. The aim of this study was to investigate seroepidemiologic hepatitis G virus [HGV] in blood donors, heamodialysis patients, hemophiliacs, and beta thalassemics with a history of liver disease by Elisa technique. In this descriptive study, blood samples of 330 volunteer blood donors, 44 heamodialysis patients, 16 haemophiliacs, and 40 beta major thalassemics with a history of liver disease were studied by Elisa technique for their seroepidemiologic status of hepatitis G virus and their past record HGV infection. For data analysis, Ch-square, Fisher exact test, and SPSS version 11.5 were used. This study showed that out of 330 healthy blood donors 14[4.2%], out of 44 heamodialysis patients 10[22.7%], out of 16 haemophiliacs 5 [30.3%] and out of 40 beta thalassemics 10 [25%] were positive for HGV-anti-E2. These data are significant evidence for HGV to be considered as a transfusion-transmitted infection. The prevalence of anti-HGV and anti-HCV [co-infection] was found to involve 10 [30.3%] of heamodialysis patients, 4 [28.6%] of haemophiliacs and 9 [23.7%] of beta thalassemics. It was also found that 1 [8.3%] of heamodialysis patients, 1 [33.3%] of haemophiliacs, and 1 [50%] of beta thalassemics were infected with anti-HGV and HBsAg co-infection. The prevalence of HGV was high in multitransfused individuals including heamodialysis patients, haemophiliacs, and thalassaemics. Therefore, HGV was a transfusion-transmittable agent. Co-infection of anti-HGV with HCV was observed in viruses. It is recommended that further studies focus on evaluating sexual and vertical transmission routes so as to cast light on relatively high rate of HGV in donor population

Seropidemiological studies of hepatitis B and C in hemophiliacs in north-western Iran

To determine the prevalence of hepatitis B and C in hemophiliacs in the city of Tabriz, northwest of Iran, 103 hemophiliacs and the same number of healthy individuals who served as a control group, were randomly selected and studied for anti-HCV. Using the second generation ELISA, anti-HBC antibodies, HBsAg, and serum ALT/AST were determined. Seventy-nine [76.7%] of patients and one [0.97%] of the control group were anti-HCV positive. No false positive results were detected by Western blot assay of anti-HCV positive sera. Anti-HBC antibodies were present in 41 [51.8%] of anti-HCV positive patients while there were only three positive cases of HBsAg. Significant correlation was found between the prevalence of anti-HCV antibody and serum AST/ALT, as well as the patients' age and the amount of blood products transfused