Hepatitis C virus infection in two groups of paediatric patients: one maintained on haemodialysis and the other on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Seropositivity to hepatitis C virus (HCV) was evaluated in three groups of Saudi children. One group (n = 18) was maintained on haemodialysis and another group (n = 21) on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). The third group were community-based normal controls. The prevalence of antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) in children on haemodialysis (11.2%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (n = 220) (1.4%; p = 0.056). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of anti-HCV between children on CAPD (4.8%) and the control group (1.4%; p = 0.244). Among ten children on haemodialysis who were anti-HCV-negative 4 years earlier, two seroconverted and the seroconversion was not due to transfused blood but was most likely due to environmental contamination. This is the first report on the prevalence of anti-HCV in children maintained on CAPD. The results of the study emphasize the need for separate dialysis machines for anti-HCV-positive patients. It seems that CAPD therapy might reduce transmission of HCV but a large number of CAPD patients will need to be studied to confirm superiority to haemodialysis in this respect.