Prevalence of hepatitis c virus in haemodialysis patients, in Sudan

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major public health problem, with an estimated global prevalence of 3% occurring in about 170 million infected persons worldwide. An estimated prevalence of 5-20% of HCV infected patients have or will develop cirrhosis, 1-4% of whom will annually develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In Sudan, the incidence for HCC is high and increasing. In one study conducting among 150 HCC patients indicating that both Hepatitis B and C viruses were important risk factors of HCC in Sudan. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence, and possible risk factors associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among hemodialysis patients in Khartoum State. Three hundred and night (n=308) subjects were enrolled in a cross-sectional study and investigated during the period from January to April 2010. Results: The majority of the subjects examined were male (65.3%). Most of the patients tested were within age group 50-59 years. The specific anti-HCV antibodies were detected among 14.3% using the fourth generation enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Duration of dialysis and previous jaundice were significantly associated with HCV seropositivity (p<0.05). Patients who had a longer duration (5 years or more) were at higher risk to get infection with HCV than those who had shorter duration. Patients who had previous jaundice were suspected to get infection with HCV infection than those who had no previous jaundice. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between the prevalence of HCV among married hemodialysis patients compared to single one. In conclusion, this fairly high prevalence of HCV among hemodialysis patients (14.3 %) should draw the attention of healthcare authorities to implementation new methodologies and improve the infrastructure of the dialysis centers, which could help improve quality of live of dialysis patients in Sudan.