Long term survey of hepatitis C virus infection in hemodialysis units in Fukuoka, Japan.

To examine prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and liver dysfunction in hemodialysis units, we surveyed markers for HCV infection and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in hemodialysis patients. 204 hemodialysis patients (111 men and 93 women; mean age, 53 +/- 12 years) in four hemodialysis units in Fukuoka, Japan were investigated. All serum samples were tested for antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) by second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). HCV RNA was detected to identify present HCV infection in the anti-HCV-positive patients by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers deduced from the 5'-noncoding region. Liver dysfunction was defined as an elevated concentration of serum ALT (above 36 IU/liter) tested by a multiple autoanalyser. 105 patients (51.5 percent) were initially positive for anti-HCV, 95 (90.5 percent) of whom were also positive for HCV RNA. Ten became positive for anti-HCV in hemodialysis units during the observation, eight (80 percent) of whom had sustained HCV viremia. The route of transmission of HCV was not clear, but two of these patients had received blood transfusions. Of 95 patients with HCV viremia, 43 (45.3 percent) had had liver dysfunction at least once. In conclusion, HCV infection continues to occur in hemodialysis units not through blood transfusion and many of them become HCV carriers. Liver dysfunction was found in about a half of HCV-infected hemodialysis patients during the observation.