title: Hepatitis B virus infection in hemodialysis patients in Japan: Prevalence, incidence and occult hepatitis B virus infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A survey of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in hemodialysis (HD) patients was conducted to determine the burden and risk of infection and to suggest preventive measures against HBV infection among HD patients at nine hospitals in Hiroshima, Japan, from 1999 to 2003.
  
  
  METHODS
  HBV markers were investigated for 1860 HD patients. The prevalence, incidence of HBV and prevalence of occult HBV were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was 2.6%, the positive rate of anti-hepatitis B core (HBc) was 20.6% and that of anti-hepatitis B surface (HBs) was 11.7%. Among 1372 patients who started HD after the approval of erythropoietin in Japan in 1991, the prevalence of HBsAg was 2.1%. The incidence rate of HBsAg positivity was 0/1000 person-years and the incidence of anti-HBc was 0.3/1000 person-years. Among 1812 HBsAg negative patients HBV DNA was detected in two: one case was negative for anti-HBc and anti-HBs, and the other was only positive for anti-HBc. Prevalence of occult HBV was 0.11%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence rate of HBV was much lower than that of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the same cohort. We supposed that the discrepancy between incidence rate of HBV and that of HCV was caused by the difference of their carrier rates and of their characteristics for persistent infection. So, we concluded that it is prerequisite to grasp the burden of HBV carriers in the group to prevent new HBV infections in HD patients.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Integrated Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Integrated Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Integrated Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Son Huy
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Do
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Integrated Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Hiroshima Infectious Disease, Disease Control Center, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tabuchi
authors.affiliation: Yukuhashi Clinic, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Komiya
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Integrated Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Internal Medicine, Applied Life Sciences, Hiroshima University Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayumu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Integrated Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohisa
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Integrated Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akita
authors.affiliation: General Incorporated Association Hiroshima Kidney Organization, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yorioka
authors.affiliation: Miyakawa Memorial Research Foundation, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuzo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyakawa
authors.affiliation: Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshizawa
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Integrated Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tanaka
keywords: hemodialysis; hepatitis B virus; incidence rate; occult hepatitis B virus; prevalence