Prevalence of hepatitides in our hemodialyzed population

We evaluated the prevalence of hepatitis in our hemodialysed population (65 patients, 37 M and 28 F). Screening for A and B hepatitis was tested with the RIA method and research of the anti-HCV with the immunoenzymatic method (Ortho HCV ELISA test of 2nd generation). 15 patients (23.07%) were anti-HCV positive (anti-HCV+); 23 (35.38%) showed positivity for 1 or more markers of B hepatitis (HBV+). A meaningful greater prevalence of B virus infections in anti-HCV+ patients (86.66%), compared to negatives, (20.00%) resulted. All non-A, non-B hepatitides are anti-HCV+. The dialytic treatment of the anti-HCV+ patients was meaningfully longer than in the negatives (p less than 0.05). The prevalence of the seropositive patients to B and C virus is not correlated to the number of transfusions, while it is to the number of surgical operations carried out in the predialytic period. This information suggests common pathogenetic mechanisms between the 2 forms of hepatitis and increased probability to find anti-HCV+ with a longer dialytic treatment.