Risky exposures and national estimate of HCV seroprevalence among school children in urban Egypt

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world, particularly in Egypt. Limited data are available concerning the national seroprevalence and the possible modes of transmission of HCV in the pediatric age group. The aim of this study was to obtain a better estimate of the national hepatitis C seroprevalence and the possible risky exposures among healthy school children in Alexandria; the second biggest city in Egypt. HCV knowledge and counseling for school children were also investigated. A total of 500 school children, age between 6 and 15 years were evaluated for HCV seropositivity and interviewed for potential disease risk factors. The seropositivity for Anti-HCV Ab was 2.8 %. About 71.4 % of seropositive children were 10-15 years old. Urban residence, chronic disease, male circumcision and invasive procedures were detected as significant risk factors for acquiring HCV infection among the studied children. The level of awareness of hepatitis C among school children was very low (3.6 %) and was correlated with the age and educational level. HCV infection continues to occur in children and is frequently unrecognized. This mandates immediate intervention and robust control strategies in the settings of exposure combined with health education programs to limit further HCV spread.

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C in Children Without Identifiable Risk‐Factors

“…The initial database search identified 898 potentially relevant articles, of which 783 were excluded on the basis of title and abstract assessment, whereas of the remaining 115 articles 58 were finally included in the systematic review (flowchart, Supplemental Digital Content, http://links.lww.com/MPG/C265) (17–74). Table, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/MPG/C271, describes briefly the included studies.…”

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Hepatitis C Virus Infection Among High-risk Egyptian Children

“…Previous studies consistently showed that blood transfusion and IV injection are significant risk factor of hepatitis C in children [14,18] . Also, the study of Abd El-Wahab, Abdel Maksoud [19] noted a significant association between history of previous surgery and HCV infection in children.…”

“…Nonetheless, other studies identified a significant association between other risk factors and HCV infection in children. These factors included family history of HVC infection [14,18] , circumcision [14,19] , ear piercing [18] and hemodialysis [20] .…”

Cognitive impairment in children with chronic Hepatitis C Virus: Case control study

“…Strikingly, the prevalence of HCV infection in children in Egypt is not well studied, apart from subgroups in few studies within rural communities (Abdel-Wahab et al, 1994;Habib et al, 2001;Medhat et al, 2002). According to findings of Abdel-Wahab et al, a 12.1% prevalence of anti-HCV has been found among rural primary school children (Abd El-Wahab et al, 2016). More recent community-based studies reported that HCV prevalence among subjects under 19 years old is 9% and 3% in the Nile Delta and in Upper Egypt, respectively (Habib et al, 2001;Medhat et al, 2002).…”