Hepatitis b surface antigen and anti-hepatitis c antibodies among patients with chronic liver disease = معدل انتشار المستضد السطحي لفيروس التهاب الكبد B و أضداد الفيروس C بين المصابين بمرض كبدي مزمن

الملخص EN

Objective : To determine the prevalence of viral hepatitits B and C among chronic liver disease patients, the characteristics and risk factors of these patients, and patterns of clinical presentation.

Metheis: A cross-sectional hospital based descriptive study was carried out on 171 patients with chronic liver disease admitted to Al-Thawra General Hospita in Sana'a, Yemen from August 2002 to August 2003.

Result: A total of 171 patients was enrolled in this study; the ages of the patients ranged between 17-90 years with a mean of 47.5+/-15.6.

Of 171 patients, and 135 patients were male (78.9%).

84 patients (49.1%) had positive markers for hepatitis viruses; 18.7% had positive HBsAg and 28.7% had positivie anti-HCV; both were positive in 1.7%.

About 90.1% of patients presented with ascites; 88.9% were jaundiced; 83.3% of patients had cirrhosis; 35.8% had periportal fibrosis, and 12.5% had a liver mass.

Conclusion: A significant percentage of patients with chronic liver disease had viral marker, with hepatitis C 1.5 times as frequent as hepatitis B.

Further study should be carried out to determine non viral causes of chronic liver disease.

Great attention must be paid to hepatitis B vaccination and the prevention of infection with hepatitis B and C viruses by the screening of blood transfusions.