title: Occult hepatitis C virus infection among Egyptian hemodialysis patients.
abstract: Occult hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (OCI) was reported in an apparently disease-free state in the absence of liver disease, anti-HCV and HCV-RNA in the serum. The existing data examining the clinical significance of OCI and its potential as a source of HCV infection among hemodialysis patients are very limited. We examined the presence of OCI among patients on maintenance hemodialysis at Minia Governorate, Egypt; an HCV endemic country. A total of 81 subjects with negative markers for HCV were enrolled. HCV-RNA was tested in PBMCs by real-time PCR. For the 81 subjects, the average dialysis duration was 32.7 ± 21.7 months and the average ALT level (±SD) was 26 ± 12 U/L while that of AST was 29 ± 16 U/L. Out of the 81 subjects, three (3.7%) were HCV-RNA positive in PBMCs in the absence of serum anti-HCV and HCV-RNA indicating OCI. The viral load of the OCI subjects ranged from 172 to 4150 IU/ml. History of liver disease was positive in one of the three positive patients. These results highlight the potential risk of HCV transmission from patients within hemodialysis units in Egypt. J. Med. Virol. 88:1388-1393, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
authors.forename: Soha S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Abdelrahim
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
authors.forename: Rasha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khairy
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mona Abdel-Monem
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Esmail
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ragab
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdel-Hamid
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.|Department of Microbiology, Taif Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Haweiah, Taif, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Sayed F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Abdelwahab
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D058345:Asymptomatic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012698:Serologic Tests; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Egypt; HCV; hemodialysis; occult hepatitis C virus; real-time PCR; viral hepatitis