Prevalence of hepatitis D virus in hepatitis B virus infected patients referred to Taleghani hospital, Tehran, Iran.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HDV infection between HBV chronic patients referred to gastroenterology ward of Taleghani hospital Tehran, Iran and also investigating the risk factors in acquiring the HDV infection.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis D virus (HDV) are major public health issues. Worldwide there are approximately 350 million individuals chronically infected with the HBV. A significant part of them, including 15 to 20 million coinfected with HDV. Hepatitis Delta virus is transferred mostly through blood and body fluids.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: HBV and HDV infections were evaluated by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Liver functional tests were assessed through auto analyzer. Patients were interviewed and data along the test results were entered into SPSS program. We used chi-square, independent t-test and logistic regression for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: 278 (54.6%) patients of the study group were male and 231 (45.4%) were female and the mean age of patients was 40.03 ± 14.93. From 509 patients, 39(7.7%) had anti-HDV antibody. In a uni-variable analysis, age (p=0.001), periodontal procedures (p=0.015), endoscopy (p=0.024) and colonoscopy (p=0.012) were significantly related to HDV seropositivity. After adjustment by logistic regression, age remained the only significant factor in acquiring HDV infection.

CONCLUSION: We highly recommend the health care workers to strictly follow the disinfection protocols of medical instruments. Since HDV seroprevalence changes over time, regular epidemiological studies are necessary to monitor the epidemiological trend of infection.