virus (HCV) antibodies in HD patients has been known since the ... (i) European HD units in which anti-HCV prevalence had ... recovery of renal function [2,3].
Nephrol Dial Transplant (2004) 19: 904–909 DOI: 10.1093/ndt/gfh012
Original Article
The changing epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in haemodialysis: European multicentre study Michel Jadoul1, Jean-Louis Poignet2, Colin Geddes3, Francesco Locatelli4, Charlotte Medin5, Magdalena Krajewska6, Guillermina Barril7, Ernst Scheuermann8, Sandor Sonkodi9, Patrick Goubau10 and the HCV Collaborative Group Departments of Nephrology, 1Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, Universite´ catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium, 2 Centre Me´dical E. Rist, Paris, France, 3Western Infirmary, Glasgow, UK, 4A. Manzoni Hospital, Lecco, Italy, 5 Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, 6Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland, 7Hospital de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain, 8Klinikum der Goethe Universita¨t, Frankfurt, Germany, 9Szent-Gyo¨rgyi Medical University, Szeged, Hungary and 10Department of Virology, Cliniques St. Luc, Brussels, Belgium
Abstract Background. The high prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies in HD patients has been known since the early 1990s but its evolution over the last decade is poorly documented. Methods. All chronic HD patients from 15 Belgian units were tested at (re)start of HD and every 18 months for anti-HCV antibodies (ELISA 2 in May 1991 and November 1992, then ELISA 3 until May 2000). All chronic HD patients from HD units from eight other European countries, whose prevalence of anti-HCV (þ) patients had been studied in 1991–1994 (and published except in one country), were tested for anti-HCV antibodies in 1999. Results. Anti-HCV(þ)prevalencedecreased(P
