title: Hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus prevalence among dialysis patients in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia: a survey by serologic and molecular methods.
abstract: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections were assessed among 81 Bahraini and 34 Saudi hemodialysis patients and 7714 Bahraini and 2330 Saudi blood donors. Higher prevalence of HCV (9.24% vs 0.30%), hepatitis B surface antigen (5.88% vs 0.62%) were seen in patients versus control patients, and in Saudi patients compared with Bahraini patients. HCV genotypes were HCV 1a/1b plus HCV 4 among Bahraini patients and HCV 2/2a plus HCV 4 among Saudi patients. This is the first report on viral hepatitis in Bahrain and the first to compare HBV/HCV among dialysis patients in the Eastern Arabian Peninsula.
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain.
authors.forename: Abeer A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Qadi
authors.forename: Hala
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tamim
authors.forename: Ghada
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ameen
authors.forename: Abdulrahman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bu-Ali
authors.forename: Sameer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al-Arrayed
authors.forename: Naglaa A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Fawaz
authors.forename: Wassim Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Almawi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001445:Bahrain / Q000453:epidemiology; D001782:Blood Donors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D019562:Viral Load