Is hepatitis G virus a real risk for haemodialysis patients?

Abstract

Haemodialysis patients are at high risk of developing liver disease due to blood-borne viral agents. At present hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most common cause of infection in these patients. A new RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family, hepatitis G virus (HGV) has recently been cloned. HGV prevalence in haemodialysis patients ranges from 3.1% to 57.5%. The aim of this study has been to detect HGV-RNA in our haemodialysis patients in order to evaluate the prevalence of HGV and to correlate the viral presence to liver disease. A total of 79 patients, on haemodialysis for a mean of 52 months, were tested. 3 patients (3.8%) were HBsAG positive and 19 patients (24%) were HCV positive. 24 of the 79 (30%) patients had been transfused. Only 2 of the 79 patients (2.5%) were HGV positive. These patients were HBsAG and anti HCV negative, both had been previously transfused and showed no signs of liver disease.