Revista Habanera de Ciencias Médicas (Nov 2016)
Hepatitis B and C virus’ infection in hemodialysed patients
Abstract
Introduction: Patients subjected to hemodialysis treatment are a high risk group for hepatitis B and C infection. Objective: To identify molecular and serologic markers of hepatitis B and C viral infection in hemodialysis patients. Materials and Methods: Was performed an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study including 103 patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis regime from Cuba’s Western and Central regions. The samples were received between January and April 2016 to study serologic and molecular markers of hepatitis B and C to be performed at the Gastroenterology’s Institute. Seroprevalence of anti HCV, HBsAg and Anti S was estimated, plus viral load determinations using amplification test to measuring nucleic acids DNA and RNA for hepatitis B and C respectively. Associations were evaluated using the x2 statistician. Results: 7.8% of hemodialysis patients were inactive carriers of hepatitis B. The 70.8% of patients had infection markers of hepatitis C virus; being hepatitis C hidden viremia in 18.4% of them. Conclusions: High prevalence of infection and hepatitis C hidden viremia in hemodialysis patients. Keywords: Hemodialysis patients, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C, surface’s antigen, hidden infection.