Sero-prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus among Refugees in Khartoum State

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a serious global health threat with an estimated 150–170 million individuals chronically infected worldwide, resulting in 350,000 deaths each year due to associated cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of HCV infection among refugees in Khartoum Stateas well as to determine the relationship between the presence of HCV and certain factors such as gender, age, career, social status, education and history of blood transfusion. The study was done during period between February and May 2017. Ninety blood specimens were collected from refugees resident in a refugees camp in the west of Khartoum State.The participants were informed about the purpose of the research before sample collection and verbal or sign agreement was obtained from each of them. The blood specimens were left for 20 minutes then centrifuged at 3000 round per minute to obtain the serum and freezed in -80ºC until the time of the detection of the virus. The sera were analyzed for the presence of Anti-HCV by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Of the total blood specimens investigated 42 (46.7%) specimens from males and 48 (53.3%) blood specimens from females, four (4.4%) were HCV positive. Of them three (3.3%) from females and one (1.1%) from males. Seven(7) participants have a history of blood transfusion. Of them one male and one female has infection with HCV. All participants who infected with HCV are married.One infected participant has a primary education and it is female. Two infected females have no education. One infected male has a secondary education. One positive case in each age groups (18-29, 29-39, 51-61 and 62-72) and there is no infection among these age groups(40-50 and 73-83). It is concluded that the occurrence of HCV was moderate among refugees. Further studies with large sample size and advanced techniques are needed to validate the results of this study.