CAIRO: Egypt has the highest recorded prevalence of Hepatitis Virus C (HCV) in the world, according to a recent study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study says that Egypt has an estimate of 14.7 percent infected with HCV and 9.8 percent chronically infected (carrying the virus but showing no symptoms of it).
About 7 out of every 1,000 Egyptians are infected with HCV. The problem continues to get bigger. More than 500,000 new HCV infections occur every year. This leaves HCV as the currently the most significant public health problem in Egypt, according to the study.
“For more than a decade, Egypt has been widely regarded as having an epidemic, with the highest recorded prevalence of HCV in the world,” the study said, “HCV is currently the most significant public health problem in Egypt.”
The main cause for this widespread of HCV in Egypt is due to “some careless attitudes toward safety measures.” Hygienist problems are a factor in the reuse of syringes and needles, needle-stick injuries by health workers, and dental hygiene. Unnecessary blood transfusions and the use of injections when an alternate mode of treatment is available is also a big factor, according to the study.
Nile Delta communities had a higher HCV prevalence than Upper Egyptian communities and the prevalence increased with age. The study warns that the statistics found can indicate a possible ongoing hyperepidemic transmission.
“There is only one way to deal with the HCV challenge in this country: HCV prevention,” warned Dr F. DeWolfe Miller, lead author of this study and professor of epidemiology at the Department of Tropical Medicine and Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology at the University of Hawaii.
“Effective and stronger HCV prevention programs are urgently needed in Egypt. Failure to act could swamp the public health system over the coming decades with millions of cases of HCV disease complications with an economic and social cost that this nation does not have the means to confront,” he said.
