Hepatitis C virus infection in hemodialysis patients in Maracaibo, Venezuela

Over a two year period, the incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was evaluated in 29 hemodialysis patients, aged between 15 and 75 years (mean ± SD: 45 ± 39.5 years), from the University Hospital Hemodyalisis Unit, Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela. Anti-HCV antibodies were determined usin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
Main Authors: Francisca Monsalve-Castillo, Liliana Gómez-Gamboa, Leonor Chacín-Bonilla, Leticia Porto-Espinoza, Luciana Costa-León
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2012
Subjects:
Hepatitis C
Incidence
Hemodialysis
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46652012000100010
https://doaj.org/article/0623c1f1e26b4cb98ead846ea4684f2b
Description
Summary:Over a two year period, the incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was evaluated in 29 hemodialysis patients, aged between 15 and 75 years (mean ± SD: 45 ± 39.5 years), from the University Hospital Hemodyalisis Unit, Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela. Anti-HCV antibodies were determined using a fourth generation ELISA (Innotest HCV Ab IV) kit and positive blood samples were tested using a recombinant assay kit (Inno-LIA HCV Ab III), both kits from Innogenetics N.V., Belgium. The findings indicate a lack of HCV seroconversion in the hemodialysis patients over the study period, confirmed by the recombinant assay. Risk factors for HCV infection were 0.3270 (95% confidence interval: 0.01323-8.080) in patients undergoing hemodialysis. The findings suggest a lack of significant sources for HCV infection due to the preventive measures to avoid its transmission in the hemodialysis unit.

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