Hepatitis Viruses B and D and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infections in Hemodialysis Patients in the South of Iran: Prevalence and Genotypes

Abstract

BackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis D virus (HDV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are transmitted by blood transfusion. Thus, hemodialysis (HD) patients are more prone to become the carriers of these infections due to their treatment demands.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of HBV and HIV infections among HD patients in Bandar Abbas, Iran, 2015.Patients and MethodsA total of 153 patients with chronic renal failure undergoing HD at Shahid Mohammadi hospital in Bandar Abbas were examined for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti- hepatitis C virus, and anti-HIV over a period of 2 months. Thereafter, all of the specimens were evaluated for HBV-DNA, HDV-RNA and HIV-RNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and further techniques. All statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS version 12 for Windows with the t-test and chi-square (χ2) test.ResultsBoth kinds of assay determined that nine (5.88%) patients were HBV positive (HBsAg-positive), whereas no HIV- and HDV-positive patients were diagnosed. All of the diagnosed HBV samples belonged to genotype D; the prevalence of HBV is associated with age, duration of HD, history of blood transfusion, and using shared HD devices.ConclusionsIn conclusion, the prevalence of HBV infection was low in the south of Iran, but genotype D represented the major HBV genotype in this population. Among the variables, age, duration of HD, history of blood transfusion, and using shared HD devices influenced the prevalence of HBV among HD patients.

The Prevalence of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen and Hepatitis D Virus Antibody Positivity Among Hemodialysis Patients and Patients With Beta-Thalassemia Major

“…Another study showed that the use of the same dialysis equipment and machines strongly correlates with hepatitis B prevalence (9). Another study also reported a significant correlation between HDVAb positivity and the number of hemodialysis sessions per month (30).…”

“…Another study on patients, who were receiving hemodialysis in Tehran found that 7.5% of the cases were HBsAg-positive and 33.3% of HBsAg-positive patients were HDVAb-positive (8). However, a study on 153 hemodialysis patients in the south of Iran showed that nine (5.88%) were HBsAg-positive and none suffered from hepatitis D (9).…”

“…This rate in previous studies from Iran was 8% (31), 14% (18), and 8.7%, which is much higher than the rate of the current study. However, the prevalence of HDVAb positivity was as low as 0.9% in a study from India (22) and 0% in two studies from Iran (9,19).…”

“…These rates are less than the rate found by the current study. The overall prevalence of hepatitis B among hemodialysis patients varies from 0% to 58% (9). Of course, this prevalence decreased from 3.8% in 1999 to 2.6% in 2006 (29).…”

“…The current findings also showed that the prevalence of HBsAg positivity among 108 hemodialysis patients was 3.7%. Previous studies in Iran reported that 5.88% to 7.5% of hemodialysis patients were HBsAg-positive (8,9,19,20). This rate among 76 hemodialysis and BTM patients in Iran was 7.89% (21).…”