GROWING PROBLEM OF HEPATITIS C IN END STAGE RENAL DISEASE PATIENTS ON MAINTAINANCE HEMODIALYSIS

Background: Hepatitis C is an important health issue in chronic kidney disease patients especially those on regular hemodialysis. The cause of this high prevelance remains multi-factorial. Despite of various infection control measures adopted worldwide, hepatitis c high seroconversion rates among dialysis patients remain a major health concern. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of seroconversion of hepatitis C in patients on maintenance hemodialysis in our set-up and also to find the various risk factors attributing to it . Methods: A retrospective study was performed on forty seven patients on routine hemodialysis who were initially sero negative for hepatitis C at the time of registration in Lahore general hospital dialysis centre and frequency of seroconversion to positive for anti HCV was calculated using spss 20. The various variables were analyzed on basis of p-value(significant <0.05) Results: Out of total 47 patients , 6 patients(12.80%) were found to be sero converted to hepatitis C during the dialysis treatment in our centre. History of surgical procedure (major/minor) (83.3%, p value:0.006) and presence of hepatitis C in spouse(66.7%, p value :0.0001) were found to be statistically significant risk factors. Conclusion: The current study indicates the high rates of hepatitis C seroconversion in hemodialysis patients and the various contributing risk factors for it . Because of the immunodeficiency in these patients, intense education to medical staff as well as patients themselves will be beneficial in controlling the spread