title: Prevalence of hepatitis C antibodies among hemodialysis patients in the Western province of saudi arabia.
abstract: We studied 408 patients on maintenance hemodialysis at four different centers in the Western province of Saudi Arabia to assess the prevalence of antibody against Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and the possible risk factors. There were 212 males and 196 females with a mean age of 42.9 +/- 13.9 years (range 12 to 75 years). They were on dialysis for a period between 3 to 140 months with a mean of 52.2 + 38 months. Assay for anti-HCV was made by second generation ELISA. A total of 295 patients (72.3%) tested positive. The prevalence rates varied considerably among the four centers studied and were as follows: the center at Jeddah, 62.7%; two centers at Makkah, 87% and 79.7% respectively and one center at Taif, 80.9%. A total of 311 patients had received varying number of blood transfusions. Of these, 230 (74%) were anti-HCV positive as against 97 patients who were never transfused of whom 65 (67%) were positive. This difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.22). Similarly, we found no significant correlation between the anti-HCV prevalence rates and serum alanine transaminase levels (P = 0.93). Our study further confirms that there are routes other than blood transfusion involved in the transmission of the HCV and there is a need to determine these routes in order to prevent the spread of this virus.
authors.affiliation: Jeddah Kidney Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Shaheen
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Huraib
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Al-Rashed
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aldrees
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arif
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al Jeffry
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tashkandy
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Safwat