| Author/Editor | Štunf, Špela | |
| Title | Razširjenost okužbe z virusom hepatitisa D v Sloveniji | |
| Type | monografija | |
| Place | Ljubljana | |
| Publisher | Medicinska fakulteta | |
| Publication year | 2002 | |
| Volume | str. 50 | |
| Language | slo | |
| Abstract | BACKGROUND. The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is one of the five agents that cause primary viral hepatitis. HDV is a defective virus, dependent on hepatitis B virus (HBV). HDV infection can occur as HBV co-infection or superinfection. The course of the disease tends to be severe and often progress to liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma. Slovenia has a relative high prevalence of HBV infection and is geographicaly close to countries with known high prevalence of HDV infection. AIM OF THE STUDY. To determine the prevalence of HDV infection among chronic HBsAg carriers in Slovenia. To the best of our knowledge, our retrospective study represents the first prevalence study of HDV infection in Slovenia. HYPOTHESIS. According to the available prevalence data from neighbouring countries the prevalence of HDV infection among chronic HBsAg carriers in Slovenia between 5% and 10% was expected. METHODS. 400 consecutive HBsAg positive serum samples obtained from the same number of patients between January 2002 and February 1998 were tested for the presence of total anti-HDV antibodies using a commercially available enzyme immunoassay ETI-AB-DELTAK-2 (DiaSorin, Saluggia, Italy). RESULTS. Anti-HDV antibodies were detected in one out of 400 tested samples (0,25%). Assuming representativeness of the sample for all HBsAg positive patients population in Slovenia we can conclude with 95% confidence that the prevalence of HDV infection among HBsAg positive Slovenian patients is between 0,24% and 0,74%. CONCLUSIONS. According to the results of our retrospective study the hypothesis of the relatively high prevalence of HDV infection among HBsAg carriers in Slovenia can not be confirmed. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters). | |
| Descriptors | DELTA INFECTION DELTA AGENT PREVALENCE HEPATITIS B SURFACE ANTIGENS ANTIBODIES, VIRAL IMMUNOENZYME TECHNIQUES SLOVENIA |