Incidence of Hepatitis C Infection among Multi-transfused β- thalassemia Major Patients and its Correlation to Blood Groups in Amara City

. Multi-transfused β- thalassemia major patients still at high risk of acquiring blood-borne viruses just like hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). To estimate the percent of HCV infection among multi-transfused β- thalassemia major patients, a sample of (109) β- thalassemia major patients were subjected to anti-HCV screening test using enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA) technique. The results revealed that 30 (27.5%) patients present + anti-HCV in Amara city. However, the infection rate was higher in the male gender than females and increased with age. The results also found that HCV infection is predominant in B+, O+, and A+ blood groups, moreover, a highly significant positive correlation detected between HCV infection and B+ blood group. The study concluded that there is an elevated rate of HCV infection among β- thalassemia major patients, requiring more efficient viral screening techniques to the blood donors, the positive relationship between blood group and HCV infection suggests a role of gene-environment interaction and needing molecular studies to clarify such correlation.