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Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus: a study of male blood donors in Saudi Arabia
Author(s) -
Abdelaal M.,
Rowbottom D.,
Zawawi T.,
Scott T.,
Gilpin C.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
transfusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.045
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1537-2995
pISSN - 0041-1132
DOI - 10.1046/j.1537-2995.1994.34294143941.x
Subject(s) - medicine , epidemiology , hepatitis c virus , population , hepatitis c , prevalence , hepatitis b , gastroenterology , immunology , virus , environmental health
Background: Few epidemiologic reports on the prevalence of hepatitis C in Saudi blood donors have been published. Study Design and Methods: Men (of several nationalities) donating blood at the King Khalid National Guard Hospital (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) were randomly selected (n = 744) for this study examining the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the local donor population, the relationship of antibody to HCV (anti‐HCV) to the surrogate markers alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti‐HBc), and the effect of the use of these markers on the discard rate. Results: The prevalence of anti‐HCV in the group examined was 3.2 percent (24/744), with a significantly high prevalence of 24.5 percent (12/49) in donors who were Egyptian (p < 0.0001). Exclusion of this group would lower the prevalence to 1.7 percent (12/695). Anti‐HCV prevalence peaked in the group aged 30 to 39, and a significant relationship was found between anti‐HCV and ALT level > 65 U/L (p < 0.0001). There was no significant relationship between anti‐HCV and anti‐HBc (p = 0.66). The prevalence of anti‐HCV in the Saudis studied was 1.7 percent (9/528). The prevalence of anti‐HCV in non‐Bedouin Saudis was significantly greater than that in Bedouin Saudis (7/165 [4.2%] vs. 2/363 [0.5%]; p < 0.01). The prevalence of anti‐HBc was found to be 28.7 percent (214/744). The use of elevated ALT (> 90 U/L) and anti‐HBc as surrogate markers would increase the current discard rate (8.3%) by 2.8 and 23.8 percent, respectively. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the practical difficulties of using anti‐HBc as a surrogate marker for hepatitis C in areas endemic for hepatitis B virus.