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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Hepatitis delta infection in Italian patients: towards the end of the story?
Tommaso StroffoliniEvangelista SagnelliCaterina SagnelliMaurizio RusselloMassimo De LucaFloriano RosinaBruno CacopardoGiuseppina BrancaccioCaterina FurlanGiovanni Battista GaetaAnna LicataPiero Luigi AlmasioNull Behalf Of Epacron Study Groupsubject
AdultLiver CirrhosisMaleMicrobiology (medical)HBsAgPediatricsmedicine.medical_specialtyCirrhosisHepatitis D ChronicEpidemiology03 medical and health sciencesLiver disease0302 clinical medicineHBsAgEpidemiologymedicineHumansCirrhosis; Epidemiology; HBsAg; HDV infection; Microbiology (medical); Infectious Diseases030212 general & internal medicineCirrhosis; Epidemiology; HBsAg; HDV infectionChronicCirrhosis; Epidemiology; HBsAg; HDV infection; Adult; Aged; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Hepatitis D Chronic; Hepatitis Delta Virus; Humans; Italy; Liver Cirrhosis; Male; Middle Aged; Microbiology (medical); Infectious DiseasesAgedCirrhosibusiness.industryGeneral MedicineHepatitis BMiddle Agedmedicine.diseaseHepatitis DHepatitis DCross-Sectional StudiesInfectious DiseasesCirrhosisItalyImmunology030211 gastroenterology & hepatologyFemaleHepatitis Delta VirusViral hepatitisbusinessSex ratioHDV infectiondescription
Background: The endemicity of hepatitis delta virus infection in Italy has decreased in the last decades. Aim: To evaluate the current epidemiology of chronic delta infection in Italy and to compare the present findings with the corresponding figures from the previous studies. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 16 referral centres scattered all over the country in 2014. Results: Out of the 513 hepatitis B surface antigen-positive subjects enrolled, 61 (11.9%) were anti-delta positive, with a sex ratio (M/F) of 2.05. The majority (80.3%) of them was 50 years or older, while the proportion of subjects younger than 30 years of age was as low as 3.3%. No difference was detected by geographical area of residence. The presence of liver cirrhosis was diagnosed in 52.4% of cases. In comparison to previous studies, a further shift towards the oldest age groups and an increasing proportion of subjects having liver cirrhosis among all anti-delta-positive subjects are observed. Conclusions: Currently, hepatitis delta infection mostly affects old people who have an advanced but indolent liver disease, reflecting a survival effect. The defective hepatitis delta virus is near to disappear in the country, where it has been discovered in the second half of 70s.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-11-05 |