Hepatitis C Virus Among Hemodialysis Patients in Najran: Prevalence is More Among Multi-Center Visitors.

We studied a population of hemodialysis (HD) patients in the Najran region of Saudi Arabia to assess the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and to evaluate the possible risk factors associated with this infection. The records of 90 patients undergoing dialysis in two centers of this region were reviewed. Blood samples were screened for anti-HCV antibodies by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and positive samples were tested for confirmation by recombinant immunoblot assay. Liver transaminases were measured to assess the activity of the virus. In this study, an overall HCV prevalence of 46.7% was found among the HD patients. Statistical analysis showed that the number of previous blood transfusions, duration of dialytic age and dialysis treatment in multi-centers were associated significantly with HCV seropositivity. Although the mean levels of liver enzymes were significantly higher in HCV-positive than in HCV-negative patients, enzyme levels were raised above normal in only 29% of the patients.