Sero-prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Among Hospital Cleaners in Khartoum State

Abstract

Exposure to Hepatitis C Virus is considered as animportant occupational hazard for hospital cleanersand it can result in liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma, which are responsible for hundreds of deaths each year. This study was conducted on ninety hospitals cleaners working in hospitals in Khartoum State during the period from February to April 2017. The objective of this study was to determine the sero-prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection among hospital cleaners in Khartoum State. Five hospitals were included in this study, 44(48.9%) Specimens were collected from Omdurman Teaching Hospital, 26(28.9%) from Al-Zara Hospital , 10(11.1%) from Antalia Medical Center, 8(8.9%) from Al-Shap Teaching Hospital and 2(2.2%) from Bahari Teaching Hospital. Blood specimenes were collected from each participants and screened for anti-HCV using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Some demographic data were collected by structured questionnaires. The results showed that out of 90 samples investigated only one was positive 1(1.1%) for anti-HCV. When compared with the risk factors it was found that there was no statistical significant relation (P value >0.05) between the presence of anti-HCV and all risk factors were tested. The study concluded that although there was a high percentage of illiteracy 52(57.8%) among study population, still they have good attitudes, and practices towards dealing with medical waste. Low prevalence in this study may be due to small sample size for this large scale screening are required to validate the result of the presented study.