title: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection among Seronegative Patients undergoing Haemodialysis in a Remotely Located Tertiary Care Hospital of Northern India: Value of HCV-RNA and Genotypes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Haemodialysis (HD) patients are at an increased risk of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which is significantly associated with increased morbidity and mortality.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to find the prevalence of HCV infection in anti-HCV antibody negative haemodialysis patients by Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and value of HCV-RNA among seronegative patients undergoing haemodialysis in a remotely located tertiary care hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 100 chronic renal failure patients on haemodialysis were studied. All the patients were screened for anti-HCV antibodies by ELISA test and for HCV-RNA by RT-PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of HCV infection was 32%. Antibody positivity was 30% and HCV-RNA by RT-PCR was detected in 20%. HCV-RNA in seronegative patients was detected in 2.8%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serological assays (30%) are quite reliable for detecting HCV infection in patients undergoing haemodialysis in our tertiary care hospital. Only a small proportion of them (2.8%) require the documentation of viral genome for current infection.
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, GGSMC , Faridkot, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Neerja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jindal
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, GGSMC & Hospital , Faridkot, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Divya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Soin
authors.affiliation: Senior Resident, Department of Microbiology, GGSMC , Faridkot, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Pragati
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Microbiology, GGSMC , Faridkot, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bansal
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, GGSMC , Faridkot, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Rubina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.affiliation: Consultant, Department of Microbiology, GGSMC , Faridkot, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Junior Resident, Department of Microbiology, GGSMC , Faridkot, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Charu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Singh
keywords: Anti-HCV antibodies; ELISA; RT-PCR
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