Hepatitis C virus infection in dialysis centers of Tabriz, Iran: a multicenter study

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver diseases among chronic renal failure (CRF) patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. The aim of this study was to identify the hepatitis C virus infection in patients under dialysis therapy from Tabriz, northwest Iran and estimate the risk factors. Sera of 462 chronic renal failure patients from five dialysis units were screened for hepatitis C antibody and HCV RNA. The mean age of patients was 52.7±16.5 years and 55% were male. Totally, 69 patients (14.9%) were found to be HCV seropositive by ELISA 3 assay and 64 were HCV RNA positive giving an overall prevalence of 10.2%. History of blood transfusion seems to be a significant risk factor. Drug abusers (6.5%), patients with a history of surgical interventions (78.3%) or renal transplantation (32.6%) had a higher risk for infection with HCV while patients who had received peritoneal dialysis (14.4%) had a low infection rate. This study gives added evidence of increased risk for HCV infection of CRF patients under dialysis with the duration and frequency of hemodialysis, which may be reduced by early transplantation. Considering the immune insufficiency in such patients who receive several interventions, serious education about sanitation to patients and medical staff will be of assistance.