Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A cross sectional study of the risk factors of hepatitis C infection in North Egypt

  • Original Article
  • Published:
VirusDisease Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Hepatitis C is a viral infection that has been declared as a global health problem by the World Health Organization. Egypt has the highest prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) which results in a high morbidity and mortality from chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma. Cities have lower rates of infection than rural areas. Studies about the abnormally high prevalence of HCV in Egypt ascribed that to the governmental campaign to treat Schistosoma. However, these treatment campaigns have stopped more than 35 years ago, which means that some other modes of transmission must have been involved. The objective of this work is to study the main reasons of HCV prevalence in the Egyptian Delta valley. A questionnaire-based study was conducted by members of the HCV Fighters project. Responses were collected from 949 volunteers (451 HCV patients and 498 healthy volunteers as control). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 19.0. The two-sample proportion test was used for statistical comparison between groups. The most probable risk factors of HCV transmission in Egypt included regular visits to dental clinics (55.2%), previous surgical operations (54.4%), former blood transfusion (52%), intrafamilial HCV infection (45.9%) and history of bilharzial infection (44.3%). Increasing public awareness about modes of transmission and risk factors of HCV infection is a must, especially within family members of HCV patients. Strict commitment to proper medical care precautions by health care practitioners is required.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Amin Elzorkany K, Zahran A. Hepatitis C virus status in hemodialysis patients in Menoufia Government, Egypt, five years apart: do we have any improvement? Saudi J Kidney Dis Transpl. 2017;28:1126–32.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Arthur RR, Hassan NF, Abdallah MY, El-Sharkawy MS, Saad MD, Hackbart BG, et al. Hepatitis C antibody prevalence in blood donors in different governorates in Egypt. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1997;91:271–4.

  3. Blach S, Zeuzem S, Manns M, Altraif I, Duberg AS, Muljono DH, et al. Global prevalence and genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus infection in 2015: a modelling study. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017;2:161–76.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bronowicki J-P, Venard V, Botté C, Monhoven N, Gastin I, Choné L, et al. Patient-to-patient transmission of hepatitis C virus during colonoscopy. N Engl J Med. 1997;337:237–40.

  5. Chang T-T, Liou T-C, Young K-C, Lin X-Z, Lin C-Y, Shin J-S, et al. Intrafamilial transmission of hepatitis C virus: the important role of inapparent transmission. J Med Virol. 1994;42:91–6.

    Google Scholar 

  6. El Ekiaby M, Moftah F, Goubran H, van Drimmelen H, LaPerche S, Kleinman S, et al. Viremia levels in hepatitis C infection among Egyptian blood donors and implications for transmission risk with different screening scenarios. Transfusion. 2015;55:1186–94.

  7. Elbedewy TA, Fouad HM, Mansour FR, Khalifah AD, Ibrahim AA, Mandouh SS, et al. Pretreatment factors predicting sustained virological response to pegylated interferon/ribavirin combination therapy in Egyptian patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 4. Int J Adv Res. 2015;3:982–9.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Farid A, Al-Sherbiny M, Osman A, Mohamed N, Saad A, Shata MT, et al. Schistosoma infection inhibits cellular immune responses to core HCV peptides. Parasite Immunol. 2005;27:189–96.

  9. Frank C, Mohamed MK, Strickland GT, Lavanchy D, Arthur RR, Magder LS, et al. The role of parenteral antischistosomal therapy in the spread of hepatitis C virus in Egypt. Lancet. England. 2000;355:887–91.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Gower E, Estes C, Blach S, Razavi-Shearer K, Razavi H. Global epidemiology and genotype distribution of the hepatitis C virus infection. J. Hepatol.; 2014. S45–57.

  11. Kadam P, Bhalerao S. Sample size calculation. Int J Ayurveda Res. Wolters Kluwer – Medknow Publications; 2010;1:55–7.

  12. Kiron S, Premaletha K, Rajagopal P, Saritha M. A study on the job satisfaction levels of pharmacists working in a community pharmacy set-up at northern part of Kerala. IOSR J Pharm. 2012;2:485–90.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Klevens RM, Moorman AC. Hepatitis C virus: an overview for dental health care providers. J Am Dent Assoc. England. 2013;144:1340–7.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Lavanchy D. Evolving epidemiology of hepatitis C virus. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2011;17:107–15.

  15. Massari M, Petrosillo N, Ippolito G, Solforosi L, Bonazzi L, Clementi M. Transmission of hepatitis C virus in a gynecological surgery setting. J Clin Microbiol. 2001;39:2860–3.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Messina JP, Humphreys I, Flaxman A, Brown A, Cooke GS, Pybus OG, et al. Global Distribution and prevalence of hepatitis C virus genotypes. 2014;77–87.

  17. Mohamoud YA, Mumtaz GR, Riome S, Miller D, Abu-Raddad LJ. The epidemiology of hepatitis C virus in Egypt: a systematic review and data synthesis. BMC Infect Dis. BioMed Central; 2013;13:288.

  18. Moorman AC, Xing J, Ko S, Rupp LB, Xu F, Gordon SC, et al. Late diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection in the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study (CHeCS): missed opportunities for intervention. Hepatology. 2015;61:1479–84.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Muller GY, Zabaleta ME, Arminio A, Colmenares CJ, Capriles FI, Bianco NE, et al. Risk factors for dialysis-associated hepatitis C in Venezuela. Kidney Int. 1992;41:1055–8.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Méndez-Sánchez N, Motola-Kuba D, Chavez-Tapia NC, Bahena J, Correa-Rotter R, Uribe M. Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among hemodialysis patients at a tertiary-care hospital in Mexico City, Mexico. J Clin Microbiol. 2004;42:4321–2.

  21. Nguyen A. NIH Public Access. 2014;19:292–300.

  22. Nouh ME-D, Mahrous OA, Farg IZ. Intrafamilial transmission of hepatitis C virus in Menoufia Governorate. Menoufia Med J. 2014;27:478–83.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Paez Jimenez A, Sharaf Eldin N, Rimlinger F, El-Daly M, El-Hariri H, El-Hoseiny M, et al. HCV iatrogenic and intrafamilial transmission in Greater Cairo, Egypt. Gut. 2010;59:1554–60.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Petruzziello A, Marigliano S, Loquercio G, Cacciapuoti C. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes distribution: an epidemiological up-date in Europe. Infect Agent Cancer. Infectious Agents and Cancer; 2016;11:1–9.

  25. Prati D. Transmission of hepatitis C virus by blood transfusions and other medical procedures: a global review. J. Hepatol. 2006. P. 607–16.

  26. Redd JT, Baumbach J, Kohn W, Nainan O, Khristova M, Williams I. Patient-to-patient transmission of hepatitis B virus associated with oral surgery. J Infect Dis. 2007;195:1311–4.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Strickland GT. Liver disease in Egypt: hepatitis C superseded schistosomiasis as a result of iatrogenic and biological factors. Hepatology. 2006;43:915–22.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Thrift AP, El-Serag HB, Kanwal F. Global epidemiology and burden of HCV infection and HCV-related disease. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. Nature Publishing Group; 2017;14:122–32.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Sara Rabie, Mahmoud Atef Yassen, Abdelrhman Mohamed, Ghada Aboelezz, Donia Hussein, Soad Elkeshk, Haidy Anwar Tayel, Hanan Ragy, Amira Mohamed, Salma Ayman Elsayed, Shimaa Yassen, Amany Sweed, Norhan Dawood, Heba Elsayed, Yassen Hamed, Esraa Ghanem, Amira Mohamed, Hemat Mohamed, Gehad Waheed, Alaa Abdo, Maha Sherief, Salma Mohamed, Basma Farahat, Omnya Fekry, Amira Shibl, Ahmed Gad, Alyaa Hekal, Ghadaa Eldeeb, Marehan Ragab, Gamela Elgendy, Walaa Mohamed, Eman Badr and all other members of HCV Fighters for their help in data collection.

Funding

The authors declare that no fund was received for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. HCV Fighters, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University, Tanta, 31111, Egypt

    Soad S. Mandoh, Kholoud Ayman, Ahmed Elbardakheny, Hala Raaft & Ahmed A. Ibrahim

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University, Tanta, 31111, Egypt

    Rasha Alsaeed Alshaikh

  3. Department of Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University, Tanta, 31111, Egypt

    Fotouh R. Mansour

  4. Pharmaceutical Services Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University, El-Geish Street, The Medical Campus, Tanta, 31111, Egypt

    Fotouh R. Mansour

Authors
  1. Soad S. Mandoh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kholoud Ayman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ahmed Elbardakheny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hala Raaft
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ahmed A. Ibrahim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rasha Alsaeed Alshaikh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Fotouh R. Mansour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fotouh R. Mansour.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declared no competing interests.

Consent for publication

All the authors gave their consent for the publication of this article.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mandoh, S.S., Ayman, K., Elbardakheny, A. et al. A cross sectional study of the risk factors of hepatitis C infection in North Egypt. VirusDis. 32, 22–28 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13337-020-00639-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13337-020-00639-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation