Prevalence and risk factors of asymptomatic hepatitis C virus infection in Egyptian children

Table 1 Comparison of clinical data obtained from HCV cases and control children

	HCV cases n = 18 (%)	Controls n = 112 (%)	P
Age at screening in years (mean ± SD)	4.00 ± 2.1	3.89 ± 2.0	NS
Male: female ratio	0.6:1	1.4:1	NS
BMI	16.61	16.76	NS
Residence
Urban	16 (88.9)	104 (92.9)	NS
Rural	2 (11.1)	6 (5.4)
Semi rural	0 (0)	2 (1.8)
Socioeconomic score
High class 20-26	2 (11.1)	8 (7.1)	NS
Middle class 15-20	4 (22.2)	36 (32.1)
Low class 10-15	9 (50)	41 (36.6)
Very low class less 10	3 (16.7)	27 (24.1)
ALT folds (mean ± SD)	2.3 ± 4.1	0.4 ± 0.1	0.045
Present history
Dark urine	4 (22.2)	14 (12.5)	NS
Diarrhea	5 (27.8)	12 (10.7)	0.046
Yellowish sclera	1 (5.6)	4 (3.6)	NS
Abdominal pain	3 (16.7)	2 (1.8)	0.002
Past history
Jaundice	3 (16.7)	20 (17.9)	NS
School absence because of illness	3/7 (42.9)	1/48 (2.1)	0.01
Poor general health	6 (33.3)	20 (17.9)	NS

NS: P value is nonsignificant