Hepatitis D virus infection in the Western Brazilian Amazon - far from a vanishing disease

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Wornei Silva Miranda Braga, Márcia da Costa Castilho, Fabiane Giovanella Borges, Jorge Roberto Di Tommaso Leão, Ana Cristina de Souza Martinho, Ivo Seixas Rodrigues, Eliete Pereira de Azevedo, Gildo Maia de Barros Júnior, Raymundo Paraná
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2012
• Subjects: Vírus da hepatite D; Doença viral; Epidemiologia; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0037-86822012000600007; https://doaj.org/article/1e7e14b53e414efaa906d4b68fd6b801

INTRODUCTION: A decline in hepatitis D virus (HDV) occurrence was described in Europe and Asia. We estimated HDV prevalence in the Brazilian Amazon following hepatitis B vaccination. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional survey of HDV measured by total antibodies to HDV (anti-HD T). RESULTS: HDV prevalence was 41.9% whiting HBsAg carries and was associated with age (PR = 1.96; 95% CI 1.12-3.42; p = 0.01), hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (PR = 4.38; 95% CI 3.12-6.13; p < 0.001), and clinical hepatitis (PR =1.44; 95% CI 1.03-2.00; p = 0.03). Risk factors were related to HDV biology, clinical or demographic aspects such as underlying HBV infection, clinical hepatitis and age. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that HDV infection continues to be an important health issue in the Brazilian Amazon and that the implementation of the HBV vaccination in rural Lábrea had little or no impact on the spread of HDV. This shows that HDV has not yet disappeared from HBV hyperendemic areas and reminding that it is far from being a vanishing disease in the Amazon basin.