Prevalence of Hepatitis C Antibodies Among Hemodialysis Patients in the Western Province of Saudi Arabia

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.