title: Occult hepatitis B in Egyptian thalassemic children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thalassemia is hereditary anemia which requires lifelong transfusion as treatment, and hepatitis viral infection is one of the risks of repeated transfusions. Hepatitis B outbreaks in health-care settings are still a serious public health concern worldwide. Blood samples negative for HBsAg but positive for HBV-DNA, with or without the presence of HBV antibodies, are classified as "occult" HBV infection (OBI). This study investigated the prevalence of occult HBV infection in Egyptian thalassemic children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty patients admitted to the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University Hospital, were involved in this prospective study. Strict inclusion criteria were set to nullify the effect of confounding variables and further minimize selection bias. The following laboratory investigations were performed: complete blood count (CBC); serum AST and ALT; albumin; bilirubin; HBsAg; HBeAg; HBcAb; HCV-RNA; and HBV-DNA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All our patients had no clinical manifestation suggestive of hepatitis. Molecular biology studies revealed positivity for HCV and HBV at 25% and 32.5% respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The estimated risk of acquiring hepatitis B and C infection in children receiving multiple blood transfusions is surprisingly high. Moreover, occult hepatitis B infection is a considerably risk.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. olfatshaker@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Olfat
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Shaker
authors.forename: Amal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Inas
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Abdel Satar
authors.forename: Hamza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El Ahl
authors.forename: Wafaa
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shousha
authors.forename: Wahid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Doss
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens