Prevalence of hepatitis B and C among some high risk groups in Egyptian children attending Benha University hospital.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global health problem especially in Egypt. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of chronic liver diseases especially cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. HBV incidence is markedly reduced after mass vaccination programs application. Objectives: to detect HCV and HBV seroprevalence among some high risk children with molecular confirmation of viremia by real-time PCR for seropositive cases. Materials and methods: A comparative cross sectional study was conducted on 5 groups of Egyptian children attending Benha University Hospital (diabetes mellitus, thalassemia, hemodialysis, previously exposed to surgery and healthy children). All children were subjected to full history taking, physical examination and laboratory investigations including HCV antibodies by 4th generation ELISA, HBsAg, HBsAb using ELISA, liver function tests and CBC, HCV and HBV viremia detection by real-time PCR for ELISA positive subjects. Results: HCV seropositivity was detected in 5%, 15%, 30%, 50% and 10% for healthy, diabetic, thalassemia, hemodialysis and previously exposed to surgery, respectively. As regard HBV, only a hemodialysis case was positive for both HBsAg and HBV-DNA. Low social class, blood transfusion, frequent intravenous injection, previous surgery and previous hospitalization are major risk factors for HCV transmission. Conclusion: The study revealed high HCV seropositivity prevalence among the studied high risk groups. PCR should be done for all HCV seropositive cases to confirm the presence of viremia.