The seroprevalence of hepatitis and retroviral infection in Jamaican haemodialysis patients

ABSTRACT

63 haemodialysis (HD) patients and 63 age and gender matched controls were investigated for hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) and antibodies to hepatitis B virus (anti-HBV), hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV), hepatitis D virus (anti-HDV), human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 (anti-HIV-1 and 2) and human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1 (anti-HTLV-1). The notable finding was an increase in hepatitis B markers, 34.9 percent in HD patients compared to 19.0 percent in controls (p < 0.02). The seroprevalence of anti-HCV (7.9 percent, p < 0.03) and anti-HTLV-1 (9.5 percent; p < 0.006) was also increased in the patients. Four of the five patients positive for anti-HCV were also seropositive for HBV. Anti-HIV and anti-HDV were not detectable in the HD patients in this study. The possibility of HTLV-1 being transmitted by organ transplantation is raised. The seropositivity rate for hepatitis B and C increased with duration on dialysis, but it is likely that it was related to the number of blood transfusions since 50 percent with no transfusion were HBV seropositive.(AU)