prevalence of hepatitis d virus infection and associated factors among hbsag-positive patients in birjand, iran, 2012 - 2014

Background: it is estimated that about 5% of hepatitis b surface antigen (hbsag) carriers are infected with hepatitis d virus (hdv) worldwide. moreover, dual infection with hepatitis b virus (hbv) / hdv causes more severe diseases and leads to a higher risk of mortality. objectives: this study was performed to determine the prevalence of hdv infection and identify hdv-associated factors among hbsag-positive patients in birjand, south khorasan province, iran. methods: this descriptive, cross sectional study was conducted on 5235 participants in line with a previous study on the seroprevalence of hbv in south of khorasan. hdv was assessed through evaluating the blood serum of diagnosed hbsag-positive patients (85 cases) by elisa test. for statistical analysis, descriptive statistics were calculated, using spss version 22. results: in this study, the mean age of hbsag-positive patients was 45.1  12.9 years (minimum, 22 years; maximum, 70 years). in total, 1 out of 85 cases was positive for hdv virus. the prevalence of hdv infection among hbsag-positive patients was 1.2% (95% ci, - 1.2 to 3.5). conclusions: the low prevalence of hdvinfection in south of khorasan was remarkable, considering the great area of this province, use of a comprehensive and inclusive sampling strategy, and mutual borders with afghanistan.