Abstract
BACKGROUND: Haemodialysis (HD) patients are at an increased risk of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which is significantly associated with increased morbidity and mortality. AIM: The aim of this study was to find the prevalence of HCV infection in anti-HCV antibody negative haemodialysis patients by Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and value of HCV-RNA among seronegative patients undergoing haemodialysis in a remotely located tertiary care hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 100 chronic renal failure patients on haemodialysis were studied. All the patients were screened for anti-HCV antibodies by ELISA test and for HCV-RNA by RT-PCR. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of HCV infection was 32%. Antibody positivity was 30% and HCV-RNA by RT-PCR was detected in 20%. HCV-RNA in seronegative patients was detected in 2.8%. CONCLUSION: Serological assays (30%) are quite reliable for detecting HCV infection in patients undergoing haemodialysis in our tertiary care hospital. Only a small proportion of them (2.8%) require the documentation of viral genome for current infection.