Risk factors for hepatitis C virus sero-positivity among haemodialysis patients receiving care at Kidney Centre in a tertiary health facility in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important health care problem in haemodialysis. Hepatitis C virus is both a cause and complication of kidney diseases. Yet there are limited information on antibody against HCV in patients on haemodialysis. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of anti-HCV and the risk factors associated with HCV infection in a cohort of 100 participants on haemodialysis. They were consecutively recruited into the study, anti-HCV testing was made by the 3rd-generation ELISA System (C-100, C-33c, C-22). The prevalence of HCV antibody was 15%, risk factors associated with HCV antibody were history of blood transfusion and duration of session of haemodialysis; the risk increased with increased with the number of blood transfusion and seasons of haemodialysis. The observed high prevalence of HCV antibody among patients on haemodialysis reflect the quality of healthcare services and the standards of infection control practices in our haemodialysis units. Routine screening for HCV should be done before blood transfusion using third generation ELISA assays with high sensitivity and specificity. Safety measures should be taken in our haemodialysis units to prevent cross infection among patients and staffs. These safety measures include; discarding syringes, needles, gloves, bloodlines and dialysers after single use, and the use of sterile dressings on each patient visit.