الملخص الإنجليزي
Objectives: To investigate the prevalence, genotype distribution, and risk factors of
hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among patients undergoing regular hemodialysis in
Bushehr province in southern Iran. Methods: All chronic hemodialysis patients from
the cities of Dashtestan, Genaveh, and Bushehr participated in this study. Enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay was used to detect anti-HCV antibodies. Molecular detection
of HCV infection was performed by semi-nested reverse transcription polymerase
chain reaction assay, targeting 5' untranslated region and core region of the genome,
and sequencing. Results: Of 279 hemodialysis patients, 15 (5.4%) were positive for
anti-HCV antibodies, and two (0.7%) patients had HCV viremia with genotype 3a.
The hemodialysis patients had a significantly higher seroprevalence of HCV than the
control group (p = 0.007). Patients with Arab ethnicity had significantly higher anti HCV seroprevalence compared to those with Fars ethnicity (p = 0.026). Anti-HCV
seropositivity was not statistically associated with the patients' sex, age group, place of
residence, level of education, duration of hemodialysis, or history of blood transfusion.
Conclusions: Considering the high seroprevalence of HCV in hemodialysis patients,
regular screening of these patients for HCV infection and prompt treatment of those
found infected are recommended.
