Investigation of the prevalence of hepatitis B and C in patients undergoing dialysis in Baghdad between 2019-2021

Hepatitis is a major health problem that causes approximately 1.5 million deaths each year. It has a negative impact on direct and indirect healthcare costs in both developed and developing countries. In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of HBV and HCV and the relationship between these infections and some biochemical markers in dialysis patients. For this purpose, a total of 1837 patients (651 women and 1186 men) on renal dialysis were included in the study. According to the data obtained between 2019 and 2021, the prevalence rate of HCV infection was 42.16% in 2019, 41.75% in 2020 and 39.63% in 2021. In this study, the highest occurrence of cases was found among individuals aged 18-28 years 51-61 and 73-83 years, constituting 52.28% 45,03% and 47.05% of the total cases, respectively. In the studies on biochemical biomarkers, significant (P<0.05) differences in ALP were found in study groups. In this study, no significant difference was found between the control group and HBV and HCV infected patient groups in terms of ALT and AST, whereas a significant difference (P<0.05) was found between the control group and renal failure patient group in terms of ALT. Blood urea and serum creatinine levels were significantly (P<0.05) higher in study groups compared to the control group. Furthermore, the results of bivariate analysis showed a significant difference (P<0.05) between the control group and all study groups. This study did not detect a significant difference in BMI between the groups examined. However, hemoglobin values were significantly lower in patient groups compared to the control group. In conclusion, the results of the study show that there was a significant increase in blood urea and serum creatinine levels and a decrease in hemoglobin levels in the patient groups compared to the control group. Furthermore, the study findings emphasized that there were significant differences in ALP levels in patient groups with renal failure, HCV infection, and HBV infection, indicating liver tissue damage.