Prevalence and role of hepatitis C viraemia in haemodialysis patients in Japan

Summary A second generation assay for antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) was used in order to establish the exact prevalence of HCV infection in haemodialysis patients. HCV RNA was sought by the polymerase chain reaction in order to determine whether haemodialysis patients with anti-HCV had been infected with HCV in the past or were presently infected. Of 357 patients, 198 (55·5 %) were positive for anti-HCV, compared to 113 (31·7 %) positive for original antibody to c100-3 protein ( P