Viral Hepatitis

Biography

Biography: Dr. Garima Mittal

Abstract

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Several studies demonstrated nosocomial transmission of HCV among HD patients. Aim: We aimed to compare the prevalence and incidence of HCV seropositivity before isolation and after isolation among a group of Indian haemodialysis patients in a tertiary care hospital setting. Methods: We compared our patients on regular haemodialysis in two different time period of 18 months each. First group included 97 patients on regular haemodialysis not following strict isolation of the HCV sero-positive patients and were followed over a period of 18 months, and the second group included 113 patients on regular haemodialysis following this strict isolation again over a period of 18 months. In these patients HCV status were done at every 3-4 months interval to look for seroconversion. Results: There was a significantly higher incidence of HCV seroconversion among the patients who were on haemodialysis and were not following strict isolation (17.17%) than those following strict isolation (3.03%). History of blood transfusions, duration of HD, dialyser reuse and dialysis at multiple centers were found to be important risk factors for anti-HCV positivity. Conclusions: In Haemodialysis units with a high prevalence of HCV seropositivity, strict isolation of HCV+ patients in combination with implementation of universal work precaution measures can limit the spread of HCV infection in HD patients.