Hepatitis delta infection in Italian patients: towards the end of the story?
BACKGROUND
The endemicity of hepatitis delta virus infection in Italy has decreased in the last decades.


OBJECTIVE
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.
Department of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Policlinico Umberto Primo, Rome, Italy.
Tommaso
T
Stroffolini
Department of Mental Health and Public Medicine, Second University of Naples, Caserta, Italy.
Evangelista
E
Sagnelli
Department of Mental Health and Public Medicine, Second University of Naples, Caserta, Italy.
Caterina
C
Sagnelli
Operative Unit of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, A.R.N.A.S. Garibaldi-Nesima of the Catania, Catania, Italy.
Maurizio
M
Russello
Liver Unit, Division of Hepatology, Department of Transplantation, Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy.
Massimo
M
De Luca
Hepatogastroenterology Division, Ospedale Gradenigo, 10153, Turin, Italy.
Floriano
F
Rosina
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Infectious Diseases, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Bruno
B
Cacopardo
Infectious Diseases, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
Giuseppina
G
Brancaccio
Department of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Policlinico Umberto Primo, Rome, Italy.
Caterina
C
Furlan
Infectious Diseases, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
Giovanni Battista
GB
Gaeta
Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit, Biomedical Department of Internal and Specialized Medicine (Di.Bi.M.I.S.), University of Palermo, Piazza delle Cliniche, 2, 90127, Palermo, Italy.
Anna
A
Licata
Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit, Biomedical Department of Internal and Specialized Medicine (Di.Bi.M.I.S.), University of Palermo, Piazza delle Cliniche, 2, 90127, Palermo, Italy. piero.almasio@unipa.it.
Piero Luigi
PL
Almasio
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D019701:Hepatitis D, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D003698:Hepatitis Delta Virus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
Cirrhosis; Epidemiology; HBsAg; HDV infection