Related Experiment Videos
Prevalence of hepatitis B and C and blood donors
S R Mehdi1, A Pophali, K A Al-Abdul Rahim
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Buraidah, Qaseem, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. riaz_mehdi@hotmail.com
Objective:
Screening for hepatitis B and C is routinely carried out in the blood banks. The purpose of this study is to compare the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen and anti hepatitis C among Saudi and non-Saudi blood donors.
Methods:
All the blood donors visiting King Fahad Specialist Hospital were screened by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay technique for hepatitis B surface antigen and anti hepatitis C. Donors with any history of jaundice in the past were eliminated from the study.
Results:
Egyptians showed a very high prevalence of Hepatitis C. Saudis had a higher prevalence of hepatitis B compared to hepatitis C.
Conclusion:
The prevalence of hepatitis B and C among Saudis of Qaseem region is low, while for Egyptians the results correspond to previous studies.