Prevalence of hapatitis C among patients with hereditary bleeding disorders in Babylon hereditary blood diseases center in Babylon governorate

Abstract EN

Objective : Patients with inherited bleeding disorders are at high risk of post-transfusion hepatitis C infection because of wide spread use of plasma derived products.

This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of HCV sero-positivity in children with hereditary bleeding disorders, and identify risk factors enhance acquire HCV infection.

Methods: The study was conducted on 100 patients (94 males and 6 females) with inherited bleeding disorders, classified as 67 patients with factor VIII deficiency, 26 patients with factor IX deficiency, 6 patients with VWD and one patient with factor VII deficiency; who were attending the hereditary blood disorders center at Babylon Maternity and Children Hospital from 1st of March to 1st of September 2010, their ages ranged from 1-17 years with mean age 7 ± 1.5 years, in comparison to healthy 100 randomly healthy children, their ages ranged from 1-17 years with mean age 6 ± 1.4 years.

Blood samples were obtained for all patients and control group and send for infection screen (HCV antibodies, Hbs Ag, HIV antibodies) and liver function tests.

Results : This study has revealed that the prevalence of hepatitis C among patients with hereditary bleeding tendency is 30 %, it is approximately similar to other studies done in other areas of the world.

Conclusions : Prevalence of hepatitis C virus is higher among patients with hereditary bleeding disorders and its incidence is increased with increasing age, number of blood products, and severity of diseases, and affected by sex and address.Infection in infancy and early childhood is asymptomatic in majority of patients.

In children, jaundice may be inapparent or evanescent, or it can be severe, so may persist for many weeks.8 Chronic hepatitis C is clinically silent until a complication develops.

Serum aminotransferase levels fluctuate and are sometimes normal, but histological inflammation is universal.9 Hepatitis C virus is detected by an ELISA assay, designed to measure antibodies directed against specific hepatitis C antigens.

The most recent generation of this test (E12) has greater than 95% sensitivity and a high positive predictive value.

There is often a prolonged interval between the exposure to HCV and the onset of illness or presence of detectable level of anti-HCV antibodies.

Anti-HCV is usually detectable within 4-6 weeks of community exposure to HCV.10