[Prevalence of HCV infection in thalassemic and hemodialysis patients in Kerman Province-Iran]

ABSTRACT

People with thalessemia and chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis are prone to blood-born infections, especially hepatitis C due to the long-term transfusion. Recently, hepatitis C has been one of the main health concerns in these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C and its risk factors in these groups of patients in Kerman province of Iran. HCV RNA in blood sample of 384 patients [203 hemodialysis cases and 181 thalassemia cases] was evaluated. One hundred thirty [130] out of 384 were infected by HCV. Infected male was predominant [83%].It seems that the frequency of hepatitis C infection in Kerman is higher than the other provinces of Iran. Therefore more attention should be paid to screen of blood before transfusing for these group of patients