Prevalence of HCV Infection in Thalassemic and Hemodialysis Patients in Kerman Province-Iran

People with thalessemia and chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis are prone to blood-born infections, especially hepatitis C due to the long-term transfusion. Recently, hepatitis C has been one of the main health concerns in these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C and its risk factors in these groups of patients in Kerman province of Iran. HCV RNA in blood sample of 384 patients (203 hemodialysis cases and 181 thalassemia cases) was evaluated. One hundred thirty (130) out of 384 were infected by HCV. Infected male was predominant (83%). It seems that the frequency of hepatitis C infection in Kerman is higher than the other provinces of Iran. Therefore more attention should be paid to screen of blood before transfusing for these group of patients.