Saeed ur Rahman, Amtul Hafiz.
Seroprevalence of HDV in Hemodialysis and Drug Addicts in Karachi.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;10(12):470-2.

Hepatitis delta is a small RNA virus depending upon HBV for its replication. It may coinfect with HBV or superinfect an HBV infected individual. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of HDV in patients on regular hemodialysis and drug addicts in Karachi. Sera from 347 subjects were tested for HBsAg by ELISA technique. Thirty-three HBsAg positive cases were processed further for delta antibody. HDV infection was detected in 1(5%) of the 20 cases of hemodialysis and 3(23.08%) of the 13 parenteral drug addicts. The presence of HDV in hemodialysis patients is alarming, emphasizing for screening of anti-delta along with HBsAg prior to dialysis. The drug addicts need to be educated about HBV and HDV, its preventive measures and value of vaccination against HBV to protect the non-infected population from viral attack.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com