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American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 134, No. 6: 651-657
Copyright © 1991 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

research-article

Prevalence of Antibody to Hepatitis C Virus in Hemodialysis Patients

Jun Hayashi1,, Koya Nakashima1, Wataru Kajiyama1, Akinori Noguchi1, Miki Morofuji1, Yoshiaki Maeda2 and Seizaburo Kashiwagi1

1 Department of General Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital Fukuoka, Japan
2 Red Cross Blood Center Fukuoka, Japan

Reprint requests to Dr. Jun Hayashi, Department of General Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital 71, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812, Japan

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in hemodialysis patients in Japan was examined using sera from 418 patients from six dialysis units in 1989. The authors made use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Ortho Diagnostics). Antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) was detected in 127 patients (30.4%), the frequency varying from 20.0% to 34.9% in different units. The mean prevalence of anti-HCV was 20 times higher than that in blood donors. Anti-HCV positivity was not associated with antibody to hepatitis B core antigen, which was not a surrogate marker for non-A, non-B hepatitis agents in this study. Another striking finding of this study was that 84.3% of the anti-HCV-positive patients had normal liver function. Anti-HCV positivity correlated positively with the number of blood transfusions and increased with the duration of hemodialysis; however, it was 22.1% even in 113 patients never given blood transfusion. Acquisition of hepatitis C virus by dialysis patients is, therefore, not only through blood transfusions but also because of hepatitis C virus present within the unit itself. Liver dysfunction in the anti-HCV-positive patients was rare. Am J Epidemiol 1991 ;134:651-7.

blood transfusion; hemodialysis; hepatitis B virus; hepatitis viruses


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