PMID: 19140353Jan 15, 2009Paper

Seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in Nigerians with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice
O A AdegokeAfolabi A Salawu

Abstract

Several studies have suggested a strong epidemiologic association between Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection in some populations. However, the reasons why chronic HCV infection is prevalent in DM remain unknown. Our aims were to determine the prevalence of HCV infection in a population of Nigerian diabetics compared with the general population as well as assess the influence of sex and age on HCV infection in the same diabetic population. A total of 115 diabetic patients were compared with 2,301 blood donors matched by recognized risk factors to acquire HCV infection. Serologic testing for anti HCV was done using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Sixty (60) type 2 diabetic patients were males while fifty-five (55) were females. Their mean age was 55.4 +/- 9 years and mean blood glucose level was 8.5mmol/l. One subject tested positive for HCV infection. The control group consisted of 2,031 adults recruited from the blood donor's clinic. Forty five of them (2.2%) tested positive for HCV. Our preliminary results suggest a low sero-prevalence of HCV infection among our patients with type 2 diabetes. Presently, routine screening for HCV infection in persons with diabetes may not b...Continue Reading

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