Review Article

Hepatitis C Virus in Arab World: A State of Concern

Table 1

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus and its common genotypes among Arab countries.

Region/countryPrevalence (%) of HCV amongGenotypes/subtype
Population [M]HaemodialysisMore frequentLess frequent

Arabian peninsula region
 Saudi Arabia [Sa]23.513 (1.7)55.741a 1b 3a
 Yemen [Ye]    23,701 (2.1)62.74NA
 Oman [Om]3.2 (1.2)26.54NA
 Bahrain [Bh]0.656397 (1.7)29.2441a, 1b
 Qatar [Qr]0.793341 (6.3)44.642, 3, 4
 UAE4,496 (2.3)3743a
 Kuwait [Kt]3.442 (0.8)71.041

Sham region
 Iraq [Irq]23 (3.2)35.941a, 1b, 3a
 Syria [Sy]20.056 (1)48.941b, 1a, 3a, 5*
 Lebanon [Lb],3.678 (0.7–1)2741a, 1b, 2, 3
 Jordan [Jr]5.307 (0.65–6.25)34.61a1b, 4
 Gaza Strip1.5 (2.2)31.341, 3a

Nile river region 
 Egypt [Eg]80 (13–22)4041a 1b 2a
 Sudan [Sud]40.219 (3)23.744e, 4c, 4d

North African region
 Libya [Ly]    6,037 (1.2)20.54/12a, 2b, 2c, 3a
 Tunis [Tu]10.102 (0.4–0.7)511b2a 2c 1a
 Algeria [Alg]35.100 (1.8)63NANA
 Morocco [Mo]35.757 (7.7)761b2a 2c 1a
 Mauritania [Mu]3.365 (1.8)68NANA

NA: no data available, *less frequent type.