title: Hepatitis delta superinfection during alpha-interferon treatment for hepatitis B.
abstract: Alpha-interferon (IFN) has been used to treat hepatitis B virus carriers with chronic hepatitis Delta virus superinfection. Although the drug inhibits hepatitis Delta virus replication during administration, long-term clearance of the virus has not been obtained in most patients. The effectiveness of alpha-interferon on chronic HDV infection is therefore questionable. No data are available on acute infection. We report the case of a young, immunocompetent HBsAg carrier in whom hepatitis Delta virus superinfection occurred while he was receiving alpha-interferon in order to reduce high level HBV replication, and followed a peculiar course.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Medicina Generale e Pneumologia, Ospedale V Cervello, Università di Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Craxì
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Marco
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruno
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fabiano
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D003699:Hepatitis D / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy; D003698:Hepatitis Delta Virus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha