Artículo original Infección por el virus de la hepatitis C (HCV) en pacientes hemodializados seronegativos para anticuerpos anti-HCV

Hepatitis C virus infection is common in hemodialysed patients. Sera from 43 patients from the Dialysis Unit "Dr. Jose Maza Carvajal" of the University Hospital "Antonio Patricio de Alcala", in Cumana, Sucre state, were evaluated. Antibodies against HCV (anti- HCV) were determined using three immunosorbent assays. The 5 'non-coding (5'NC) HCV region was amplified by RT-PCR in all samples. The presence of antibodies and HCV RNA was 9.3% and of HCV RNA in seronegative sera 42%, which represents a frequency of infection of 51%. Phylogenetic analysis of the 5'NC region showed that genotype 2 was the most frequently found, particularly due to subtype 2b, followed by genotype 1, while seven subtypes could not be determined. The presence of a high number of seronegative HCV-infected hemodialysed patients might be due to the immunocompromised condition of these patients; hence the importance of determining the viremia.