الفهرس 
H EPATITIS C VIRUS AND H AEMODIALYSISOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Egypt unfortunately has the highest hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence level in the world, estimated nationally at 14.7%. HCV prevalence among hemodialysis (HD) dialysis patients is ranging between 50-90% (Mohamoud et al., 2013). There is extensive variation in the HCV infection prevalence among different HD units in same country and among countries themselves, however, Egypt have unfortunately the worst record worldwide.
Despite the advent of screening of blood products for anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) and using erythropoietin for treatment of anemia, the incidence of HCV seroconversion infection among HD patients is yet serious worrisome issue in hemodialysis units (HDU). The exact mode of HCV transmission within HD units is yet incompletely defined. HCV seroconversion in HD units is attributed to several risk factors. This thesis study is dedicatedly designed to study the effectiveness of isolation measures and infection control measures to prevent HCV seroconversion infection in HD units. The study was carried out in two HD units having one hundred and fifty one seronegative patients subjected to this study for 1 year. The results of this study have underscored the utmost importance of strict adherence to the universal / standard infection control measures and adoption isolation strategy for HCV positive patients.
This study suggests for efficient control of HCV seroconversion in HD units that having high HCV prevalence, inadequate staffing and suffering from break in infection control procedures; to implement regular testing of all patients for HCV-RNA, comprehensive isolation of positive HCV patients in separate room or partial isolation by using designated machines, equipment and staff for their dialysis depending on resources availability. However, strict adherence to the universal / standard infection control measure should remain without any compromise the utmost effective preventive method to control HCV seroconversion in HD units.