Is Hepatitis C Virus Infection Common in Pediatric Patients with Persistent and Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenia?

Background: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune, acquired disease characterized by transient or persistent thrombocytopenia. ITP, mostly self-limiting, is also known to occur in association with bacterial and viral infections. Egypt, had one of the highest burdens of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections globally.Methods: Pediatric patients with persistent and chronic ITP were evaluated for evidence of HCV infection. HCV antibody test (by ELISA) was performed for all patients. HCV PCR test was done for patients with positive antibody test.Results: Eighty-seven patients were enrolled, with M/F ratio of 1.3:1. HCV antibody test was positive in 8 patients (9%), and only one of them had Positive HCV PCR. Different parameters (age, gender, initial presenting symptoms, disease duration, bleeding grade, transfusion of blood products, treatment type and response to treatment) showed no statistically significant difference between HCV antibody positive and HCV antibody negative cases.Conclusions: HCV infection is not a common comorbidity among our cohort of pediatric patients with persistent and chronic ITP. No significant difference was detected between HCV antibody positive cases and HCV antibody negative cases as regards clinical presentation, or response to treatment..