Premarital screening of the viral hepatitis among Saudi nationals

Abstract

Blood borne sexually transmitted infections are among the most serious health problems worldwide. Many people possessing these infections do not have symptoms and may remain undiagnosed. The current study aimed to screen premaritally the incidence of blood borne viruses among Saudi nationals. A retrospective longitudinal study was conducted, using a total of 91,000 medical records, in the blood bank from a single center in the Western region of Saudi Arabia. All persons who underwent premarital examination during the period 2016–2021 for the presence of hepatitis B and C viruses as a part of the national screening program in Saudi Arabia were included in the study. Serological tests were used to screen the presence of HBc Ab and HBs Ag. Both anti-HCV antibodies and the presence of virus RNA using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were also performed. The study reported the presence of 378/91000 (0.42%) infections with hepatitis B virus (HBV) as indicated by the presence of HBc Ab and HBs Ag. Meanwhile, 208 (0.23%) cases were found to be exposed to HCV including 49/91000 (0.05%) active HCV cases, positive for the HCV RNA, while 159/91000 (0.17%) persons were found to possess positive HCV antibodies in the absence of detectable HCV RNA. It was concluded that there is a low prevalence of HBV and HBV among Saudi citizens who were subjected to premarital screening.