Incidence of Hepatitis C Infection among Multi-transfused β- thalassemia Major Patients and its Correlation to Blood Groups in Amara City

Abstract

Multi-transfused βthalassemia major patients still at high risk of acquiring blood-borne viruses just like hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). To estimate the percent of HCV infection among multi-transfused βthalassemia major patients, a sample of (109) βthalassemia major patients were subjected to anti-HCV screening test using enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA) technique. The results revealed that 30 (27.5%) patients present + anti-HCV in Amara city. However, the infection rate was higher in the male gender than females and increased with age. The results also found that HCV infection is predominant in B+, O+, and A+ blood groups, moreover, a highly significant positive correlation detected between HCV infection and B+ blood group. The study concluded that there is an elevated rate of HCV infection among βthalassemia major patients, requiring more efficient viral screening techniques to the blood donors, the positive relationship between blood group and HCV infection suggests a role of gene-environment interaction and needing molecular studies to clarify such correlation.