Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus among Omani patients with renal disease

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Omani patients with renal disease was determined using a second-generation enzyme immunoassay which detects antibodies to three HCV antigens. Based on the results of this assay, 27 of 102 (26.5%) sera from patients on haemodialysis, 11 of 82 (13.4%) sera from kidney transplant patients, and 1 of 103 (1%) sera from non-dialysed, non-transplanted patients with various renal diseases had antibodies to HCV. Among healthy subjects, none of 134 medical students and 5 of 564 (0.9%) blood donors were anti-HCV positive. Thus, the prevalence of HCV infection in dialysis and renal transplant patients was significantly higher than that found in patients with renal disease who had been neither dialysed nor transplanted (p < 0.05). In the latter group of patients, the frequency of anti-HCV was low, and comparable to that of healthy Omani subjects.