Prevalence of Hepatitis G Virus Infection in Patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis

Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a newly identified hepatitis virus. Its transmission is primarily parenteral. However, patients on regular hemodialysis are at high risk of infection through this route. The purpose of our study aims to investigate the prevalence of HGV in patients on maintenance hemodialysis during October 1997 to April 1998, the presence of HGV-RNA and the antibodies against HGV enveloped protein (Anti-HGV-E2) were investigated by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay among our dialysis patients. Anti-HGV-E2 antibodies were found in 141 of 268 (52.6%) patients studied and HGV-RNA was detected in 41 of 268 (15.3%) of them. Eight patients had positive result of both tests, therefore, the real prevalence of HGV infection was 64.9%. The HGV seropositive patients tended to be older (57+13 vs 52+15years，p＜0.005), have longer duration of hemodialysis (54.3+44.5 vs 39.6+31.1months，P＜0.05), and higher HCV prevalence (43% vs27%，P＜0.01). We also found that male patients had higher prevalence. We concluded that patients with regular hemodialysis are at increased risk of HGV infection. It may be due to the sharing of the same equirpments, frequent blood transfusion, or nosocomial infection. However, HGV infection itself may not be significant in clinical course The clinical and pathological significance of this infection still requires further investigation.