Research Article PrevalenceofSero-MolecularMarkersofHepatitisCandB VirusesamongPatientswith β-ThalassemiaMajorinNorthern WestBank,Palestine KamalDumaidi , 1 AmerAl-Jawabreh, 1,2 FekriSamarah , 1 andMahaRabayaa 1 1 Department of Medical Lab Sciences, Arab American University, Palestine, State of Palestine 2 Al-Quds Public Health Society, Jerusalem, State of Palestine Correspondence should be addressed to Kamal Dumaidi; kamal.dumaidi@aauj.edu Received 6 May 2018; Revised 17 July 2018; Accepted 5 August 2018; Published 5 September 2018 Academic Editor: Lucia Lopalco Copyright © 2018 Kamal Dumaidi et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. HCV and HBV present a great challenge in the management of β-thalassemia patients. Objective. e present study aimed to determine the prevalence of both HBV and HCV in multitransfused-dependent β-thalassemia patients in northern West Bank, Palestine, using sero-molecular markers. Methods. Serum sample from 139 multitransfused β-thalassemia patients were tested for HBV and HCV markers including HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, HBV-DNA, and anti-HCV and HCV-RNA. De- mographic data and selected clinical parameters were collected by means of a questionnaire and from the patients’ medical files. Results and Conclusion. e mean (±SD) age of patients was 18.1 years (±10.6). e overall prevalence of the HCV was 10% (14/139), which is 50 times higher than the normal Palestinian population (0.2%). Of which, 3 were positive for anti-HCV alone, 7 positives for HCV-RNA alone, and 4 positives for both anti-HCV and PCR-RNA. On the other hand, low prevalence of HBV was detected at a level of 0.7% (1/139). Only one patient had HCV-HBV coinfection. Twenty-five patients (19%) were positive for anti- HBc, while 99 (71%) were immune with the anti-HBs level above 10IU/mL. Anti-HBc was insignificantly high (P � 0.07) in HCV- positive cases. In conclusion, the prevalence of HCV among β-thalassemia patients is considered high compared to normal population. Determination of HCV prevalence should be based on the detection of both HCV-RNA and anti-HCV. On the contrary, HBV showed a low prevalence. A follow-up schedule and administration of booster dose of HBV vaccine is strongly recommended for β-thalassemia patients whose anti-HBs level <10IU/ml. 1.Background alassemia is a group of hereditary diseases characterized by hemolysis of red blood cells due to defect in β-globin chain synthesis, which leads to a decreased synthesis of β + or complete absence β o of the β-chains. β-alassemia is classified clinically according to disease severity into three major subtypes: the asymptomatic β-thalassemia trait (BTT), moderate β-thalassemia intermediate (BTI), and the severe form or transfusion dependent β-thalassemia major (BTM). e disease can also be in combination with other hemoglobinopathies such as β S or β C [1, 2]. Approximately 1.5% (1–20%) of the world population is known to be carriers for β-thalassemia. High prevalence of the β-thalassemia carrier was reported in the Mediterranean region, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East [1, 3, 4]. Management of thalassemia patients depends mainly on regular blood transfusions; however, complications in- cluding, iron overload and transfusion-transmitted in- fections were reported, which may therefore increase the rate of morbidity and mortality [1, 5]. β-thalassemia patients are at high risk of acquiring viral infections such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Although, the incidence of viral hepatitis among thalassemia patients has been reduced following the implementation of HBV vaccine and the screening of transfused blood components for HBV and HCV, significant prevalence of HBV and HCV among thalassemia patients are still reported [6]. Previous studies Hindawi Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology Volume 2018, Article ID 1039423, 6 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/1039423