Nurses' Performance Regarding the Application of Preventive Measures of Hepatitis C virus Infection among Children Undergoing Hemodialysis

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus is an inflammation that affect the liver and children undergoing hemodialysis are at high risk of acquiring blood borne pathogen. Hepatitis C virus is a major public health problem with an estimated 170 million infected person around the world. Hepatitis C infection occurs in about 0.15% of 6-11 year olds and 0.4% of 12-19 year olds. It is estimated that there are 23,000 to 46,000 children in the US. Also, Egypt has the highest HCV prevalence worldwide. The prevalence of HCV in Egypt is found to be 14.7% among the general population (Khamis et al., 2018). Pediatric child on HD are at high risk for HCV with frequency of infection several times higher than that in non-uremic child. Dialysis is an important treatment for kidney failure when the kidneys stop working properly. Whatever, hemodialysis uses special equipment to remove extra water and waste products from the blood. This partly replaces the work of healthy kidneys. Also, the child may need dialysis if the renal failure occur this may happen suddenly or over time (Patrick et al., 2018). There are two main types of dialysis the first type is hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Both of these require surgery before the dialysis can start. In many cases, families can decide the best type of dialysis for the child, in discussion with their healthcare team. Pediatric nurse play an important role in management of child undergoing hemodialysis. Al