Prevalence of HCV infections among hemodialysis patients in Al Gharbiyah Governorate, Egypt.

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a significant problem for patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) treatment. This medical problem has never been studied in Al Gharbiyah Governorate; this study was conducted aiming to estimate the prevalence of anti-HCV positive patients and the incidence of seroconversion in its different HD units.

Methods: All 2351 patients maintained on HD in the eight towns of Al Gharbiyah Governorate were interviewed and their anti-HCV status was tested by a third-generation enzyme immunoassay.