Hepatitis C Virus Antibodies in High‐Risk Saudi Groups

Non-A non-B hepatitis recently renamed as hepatitis C virus (HCV) accounts for over 90% of hepatitis cases worldwide associated with blood transfusions. Application of a recombinant-based enzyme immunoassay for the detection of antibodies to HCV to a sample of 500 male Saudi blood donors and 260 healthy Saudi pregnant women indicated that HVC is endemic in the Saudi population. Anti-HCV was detected in 28 (5.6%) of the blood donors and 12 (4.6%) of the pregnant women for an overall frequency of 5.3% in healthy Saudi adults who had never received blood transfusions. This rate is at least 5 times higher than that reported for the US and Western Europe. Also assessed was the HCV rate in subsamples of Saudis considered at risk of this infection. Here anti-HCV was detected in 22 (78.6%) hemophiliacs 26 (33.3%) patients with thalassemia and sickle cell disease 17 (26.1%) hemodialysis patients with renal failure and 35 (15.9%) individuals with a sexually transmitted disease. The prevalence of anti-HBc ranged from 28% in blood donors to 46% in hemophiliacs. The significantly higher prevalence of HCV in patients with sexually transmitted diseases than in blood donors suggests that this disease is transmitted through heterosexual contact as well as blood transfusions. Given the high baseline level of HCV infection in the Saudi population and the possibility of serious sequelae (e.g. chronic active hepatitis cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma) routine anti-HCV screening of blood donations is urged.