Survey the Seroprevalence of CMV among Hemodialysis Patients in Urmia, Iran

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) causes infection in immunocompromised, transplant recipients and those who received blood transfusion frequently. Risk factors for primary CMV infection are blood transfusion (including clotting factors, etc), recipients of infected transplants, hemodialysis and the frequency of dialysis in a week. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibodies in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who undergo hemodialysis. A cross-sectional study of hemodialysis patients in Urmia, Iran was undertaken in 2007. Sera of 84 Hemodialysis patients were investigated for CMV-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG). Forty-four (52%) patients were males. 65 patients (77.4%) were anti-CMV IgG positive and 6 (7.1%) were anti-CMV IgM positive. There was no relationship between the antibody titer and dialysis duration, or frequency of HD in a week. In conclusion, we recommend that every patient who has undergone hemodialysis receive blood products free of CMV if CMV negative to reduce the incidence and prevalence of CMV among HD patients.