Epidemiology of viral hepatitis among Hemodialysis patients in Mazandaran province, northern Iran

Background: Hemodialysis (HD) is one of the most common causes of blood borne infections such as hepatitis B virus in the world. In order to prevent viral hepatitis and confront with the virus on the next step, health providers specify infected patients by screening and vaccination. Methods and Materials: This study is designed to investigate epidemiologic conclusion in HD patients in Mazandaran, Iran. Among 1377 HD patient, 216 patients of referral hemodialysis centers (they are also servicing hepatitis patients) were included in this cross-sectional study. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS19 with application of t-test and chi-square. Results: From 216 patients, 106 were female (49.07%) and 110 were male (50.9%). The mean age was 40.1 in female and 50.9 in male patients. The study recorded 9 HBs-Ag positive and 15 HCV-Ab positive patients. Also the most common comorbidities were diabetes and hypertension. 13 patients from 34 patients with negative HBs-Ag, who had 10 to 100 U HBs-Ab in the first stage, experienced sudden antibody less than 10 U. From 50 negative HBs-Ag patients with HBs-Ab more than 100 in the first stage, 5 patients’ antibody decreased less than 10 U in the second stage. 12 other patients from the group reached 10 to 100 U antibodies. These sudden alternations were statistically significant. Conclusions: Although HBV prevalence was low in HD patients in Mazandaran, due to the large number of patient with non-protective antibody levels, there is a risk of an increased prevalence of the disease. Thus more investigations are needed for its reasons.

کلیدواژه ها:

Hemodialysis ، viral hepatitis ، HBs-Ab