Seroepidemiology of hepatitis b virus, hepatitis d virus, and human immunodeficiency virus infections among parenteral drug abusers in southern taiwan

✍ Scribed by Dye-Chii Chung; Dr. Ying-Chin Ko; Chien-Jen Chen; Eng-Rin Chen; Chung-Chieng Wu; Pyng-Shouh Wu

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 426 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890280403

✦ Synopsis

A total of 390 parenteral drug abusers (PDAs) at the Kaohsiung Municipal Narcotics Abstention Institute were examined for markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis D virus (HDV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). All sera were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), surface antibody (anti-HBs), and core antibody (anti-HBc) by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and for antibody to HIV (anti-HIV) by enzyme-linked im- munosorbent assay (ELISA). Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and antibody to HDV (anti-HDV) were also tested for HBsAg-positive serum samples. Although the HBsAg-positive rate (22.1%) among PDAs was similar to that of the general population in southern Taiwan, the HBV infection rate (99.2%) and the anti-HDV-positive rate (78.5%) among HBsAg-positive subjects were significantly higher than those of the general population in southern Taiwan ( P < 0.0001 ). None of the PDAs studied were positive for anti-HIV.

The levels of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) among PDAs were significantly higher than those of the general population in southern Taiwan (P < 0.0001). The more frequent the institutionalisation, the higher the infection rates with HBV and HDV and elevated levels of SGOT and SGPT. Horizontal transmission through parenteral drug abuse may be considered a possible reason for the significantly higher rates of HBV and HDV among parenteral drug abusers.