Background: Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is defined as the existence of low-level HBV DNA in the serum ( Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of occult hepatitis B infection among hemodialysis patients infected with Hepatitis C Virus.
Patients and Methods: Our study was conducted on 100 patients with end-stage renal disease who were positive Hepatitis C Virus undergoing regular hemodialysis from the dialysis unit related to the department of nephrology, Nasser Institute, Egypt, during the period from July to January 2018. Female ratio was |39%|, while male ratio was |61%|, age ranged from (18-60) with mean efficient |39.20±11.98|.HbcIgG was checked to all patients, and HBV PCR to positive HBcIgG patients.
Results: The results of our study showed that 8% of the whole samples were Positive, and 92% were negative HbCIgG patients. From these 8% positive HBcIgG patients, HBV PCR was positive in only 2% patients.
Conclusion: OBI was prevalent among chronic HCV patients on regular hemodialysis. However, more precise assessment of this infection requires regular patient follow up using HBV DNA detection methods.