Hepatitis B and hepatitis C viral infections among Egyptian hemodialysis patients: study on some of the contributing factors

ABSTRACT

In this work we studied the incidence of hepatitis B virus [HBV] and hepatitis C virus [HCV] infections among 150 Egyptian hemodilaysis patients, 70% of them had hepatitis viral infections, 73% were HBV infected, 8% were HCV infected and 25% had combined HBV and HCV infection. When investigating the possible contributing factors, blood transfusion and prolonged hemodialysis were found significantly associated with HCV infection [P<0.05]. Two serum liver function tests were studied as possible non invasive predictors for these viral infections in such patients; the elevated s. bilirubin level was found non significantly associated with HCV infection while elevated sGPT was found significantly associated with HCV infections. These viral infections could be easily predicted by serum biochemical tests, should be screened periodically and precautionary steps have to be set up to reduce the high incidence of infection