Seroepidemiological study of hepatitis delta virus infection in Okinawa, Japan

✍ Scribed by Hiroshi Sakugawa; Hiroki Nakasone; Hayashi Shokita; Tomofumi Nakayoshi; Fukunori Kinjo; Atsushi Saito; Akihiro Yamashiro; Yasuhiro Miyagi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 336 KB
• Volume: 45
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890450313

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A seroepidemiological study on hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection was conducted in the Oki‐nawan islands, the area of Japan where hepatitis B virus infection is most prevalent. The subjects of this study included 116 asymptomatic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers, 48 patients with chronic hepatitis (CH), 19 with liver cirrhosis (LC), and 11 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Among the 194 serum samples examined, a total of 10 (5.2%) were anti‐HDV sero‐positive. Anti‐HDV was detected in 2 (1.7%) of the 116 asymptomatic HBsAg carriers, in 3 (6.3%) of the 48 patients with CH, and in 5 (26.3%) of the 19 with LC. However, none of the patients with HCC had detectable anti‐HDV. Eight of the 10 were born in the Miyako island group and the remaining 2 on the main island of Okinawa. Since the subjects included 34 individuals who were living and/or born in the Miyako islands, the positive rate of anti‐HDV in the islands was 23.5%. This study demonstrates the existence of an endemic area of HDV infection in Japan. © 1995Wiley‐Liss, Inc.