Prevalence rates and influencing factors of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infection among hemodialysis patients in Taiyuan,China

Objective To examine the prevalence rates of hepatitis B virus( HBV) and hepatitis C virus( HCV) infection and to explore influencing factors of the infection among hemodialysis patients. Methods A total of 187 hemodialysis patients from a hemodialysis unit in Shanxi province were investigated with a self-designed questionnaire. Meanwhile,fasting venous blood samples of the patients were collected for HBV and HCV test with automatic chemiluminescence analyzer. Results Among the patients,the positive rate of HBV surface antigen and antibody to HCV were 3. 7%and 9. 6% respectively,but the infection rate of HBV was 27. 8%. Besides,the co-infection rate of HBV / HCV was4. 8%. Single factor analysis showed that the infection of HBV was associated with marriage status and HCV infection was associated with the infection of HBV( P = 0. 046 and P = 0. 027). The infection rate of HBV for married men and anti-HCV positive persons were 30. 4% and 50. 0%,respectively. The analyses also revealed that factors relating to the infection of HCV included history of anti-HBV core( anti-HBC) positive,kidney transplantation,operation or trauma,and dental surgery,with the HCV infection rate of 22. 2%,37. 5%,35. 35,and 16. 9% and p values of 0. 042. 000,0. 001,and 0. 011,respectively. The HCV infection rate was elevated with the duration of dialyisis and the infection rate was up to 19. 2% for the patients with the dialysis of more than 3 years. Multivariate analyses indicated that the risk factors for HBV infection was HCV infection( odds ratio[OR]= 2. 930),and the risk factors of HCV infection were anti-HBc positive( OR = 3. 496,95% confidence interval[95% CI]: 1. 014- 12. 057),with the history of kidney transplantation( OR =8. 064,95%CI: 2. 197- 29. 601),and dental surgery( OR = 8. 170,95% CI: 2. 255- 29. 603),respectively. Conclusion The prevalence rate of HCV infection is high in hemodialysis patients,suggesting that strict disinfection and blood screening measures need to be taken for reducing HCV infection.