title: Prevalence of hepatitis D virus in hepatitis B virus infected patients referred to Taleghani hospital, Tehran, Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HDV infection between HBV chronic patients referred to gastroenterology ward of Taleghani hospital Tehran, Iran and also investigating the risk factors in acquiring the HDV infection.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis D virus (HDV) are major public health issues. Worldwide there are approximately 350 million individuals chronically infected with the HBV. A significant part of them, including 15 to 20 million coinfected with HDV. Hepatitis Delta virus is transferred mostly through blood and body fluids.
  
  
  METHODS
  HBV and HDV infections were evaluated by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Liver functional tests were assessed through auto analyzer. Patients were interviewed and data along the test results were entered into SPSS program. We used chi-square, independent t-test and logistic regression for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  278 (54.6%) patients of the study group were male and 231 (45.4%) were female and the mean age of patients was 40.03 ± 14.93. From 509 patients, 39(7.7%) had anti-HDV antibody. In a uni-variable analysis, age (p=0.001), periodontal procedures (p=0.015), endoscopy (p=0.024) and colonoscopy (p=0.012) were significantly related to HDV seropositivity. After adjustment by logistic regression, age remained the only significant factor in acquiring HDV infection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We highly recommend the health care workers to strictly follow the disinfection protocols of medical instruments. Since HDV seroprevalence changes over time, regular epidemiological studies are necessary to monitor the epidemiological trend of infection.
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and liver diseases Research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Mohammad Ebrahim
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tahaei
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and liver diseases Research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Reza
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Mohebbi
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and liver diseases Research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Pedram
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Azimzadeh
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and liver diseases Research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Behelgardi
authors.affiliation: Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Azar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanati
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and liver diseases Research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Parvaneh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and liver diseases Research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahsa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khanyaghma
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and liver diseases Research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hosseini Razavi
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and liver diseases Research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Afsaneh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharifian
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology and liver diseases Research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zali
keywords: Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis D virus; Iran; Prevalence