Prevalence and risk factors of the hepatitis G (HGV) infection in hemodialysis patients

GBV-C and HGV are different isolates of the same virus which were identified by two independent research groups. HGV is a blood-borne virus and a member of flaviviridae. This virus is present in the volunteer blood donors. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of HGV-RNA by PCR and investigation of risk factors for viral transmission. In all patients (n=269), HGV-RNA were detected by RT-PCR. Liver function tests performed by colorimetric method and epidemiologic data were obtained to evaluate risk factors for HGV in hemodialysis patients. Viremia was seen in %12.6 of patients. It was found that blood transfusion increased the risk of HGV infection significantly (P