title: The seroprevalence of hepatitis and retroviral infection in Jamaican haemodialysis patients.
abstract: 63 haemodialysis (HD) patients and 63 age and gender matched controls were investigated for hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) and antibodies to hepatitis B virus (anti-HBV), hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV), hepatitis D virus (anti-HDV), human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 (anti-HIV-1 and 2) and human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1 (anti-HTLV-1). The notable finding was an increase in hepatitis B markers, 34.9% in HD patients compared to 19.0% in controls (p < 0.02). The seroprevalence of anti-HCV (7.9%, p < 0.03) and anti-HTLV-1 (9.5%; p < 0.006) was also increased in the patients. Four of the five patients positive for anti-HCV were also seropositive for HBV. Anti-HIV and anti-HDV were not detectable in the HD patients in this study. The possibility of HTLV-1 being transmitted by organ transplantation is raised. The seropositivity rate for hepatitis B and C increased with duration on dialysis, but it is unlikely that it was related to the number of blood transfusions since 50% with no transfusion were HBV seropositive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
authors.forename: E N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Douglas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica / Q000453:epidemiology; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies