Comparison between Immune Chromatography Test and Enzyme – linked Immune Sorbent Assay for Diagnosis of Hepatitis C Virus among Haemodialysis Patients in Khartoum State

Abstract

This study was carried out in Khartoum State in the period of time from April to July 2012 on a total of 183 patients in various haemodialysis centers to compare between the sensitivity and specificity of Immune chromatography test (ICT) and indirect HCV ELISA using recombinant antigens. Sixty seven (36.6%) patients were positive for HCV- antibodies by ICT and Sixty eight (37.2%) patients were positive by ELISA. However, this difference was not statistically significant (T. test, p value > 0.05). Therefore, both tests are reliable for screening HCV-antibodies in patients as far as a recombinant antigens were employed in both tests to ensure specificity.