Viral hepatitis C and B among dialysis patients at the Rabat University Hospital : prevalence and risk factors

The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) in maintenance hemodialysis (HD) and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients at the Rabat University Hospital and to identify the major risk factors for transmission. A retrospective study was performed in 67 chronic HD and 36 peritoneal dialysis patients. For the screening of viral infections, we tested for anti-HCV antibodies and HBs antigen (Hbs Ag). We compared infected and non-infected patients in order to determine the risk factors for contamination. In the HD unit, the prevalence of anti-HCV was 60 % and the prevalence of HBs Ag was 6 %. Duration of dialysis (P = 0.001) was the only risk factor in our HD patients. In peritoneal dialysis (PD), the prevalence of anti-HCV was 8 %. Hbs Ag was detected in 2.6 % of our PD patients. Viral hepatitis C is the main viral infection in our HD unit. The duration of dialysis is the main risk factor for infection in our study. The transmission is essentially nosocomial, requiring a strict adherence to infection control procedures.