Salman T Shall, Rizwanul Haq, Tahir Shafi.
Prevalence and rate of seroconversion of Hepatitis C in hemodialysis patients.
Proceeding Shaikh Zayed Postgrad Med Inst Jan ;17(1):19-22.

Hemodialysis patients are at high risk of acquiring hepatitis C infection. Prevalence of anti HCV antibodies was determined by generation ELISA among 122 (69 males, 53 females) patients undergoing hemodialysis. Out of 122 patients, 69 (56.6%) patients were found to be anti-HCV positive. . Anit HCV antibodies were positive in 24 (19.7%) patient before starting hemodialysis. During hemodialysis, 45 (45.9%) patients became anti HCV positive. Mean duration of dialysis of sero-positive patients was 29.3±24.8 months, where as that of sero-negative patients was 14.7±19.8 months. This difference was statistically significant. Frequency of seropositivity was found to be 4.5%, 22.6%, 46.3%, 66%, 74.1% and 89.5% after 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years and 5 years of hemodialysis respectively. Annual rate of seroconversion was found to be 32.2%, 28.4% and 34.4% in years 2000, 2001 and 2002 respectively. We recommend strict application of universal infection control measures to limit transmission of hepatitis C in hemodialysis units.

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