High Prevalence of Hepatitis Delta Virus among Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection and HIV-1 in an Intermediate Hepatitis B Virus Endemic Region

• Published in: Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 85 - 90
• Main Authors: Saravanan, Shanmugam, Madhavan, Vidya, Velu, Vijayakumar, Murugavel, Kailapuri G., Waldrop, Greer, Solomon, Sunil S., Balakrishnan, Pachamuthu, Kumarasamy, Nagalingeswaran, Smith, Davey M., Mayer, Kenneth H., Solomon, Suniti, Thyagarajan, Sadras P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2014; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Blood diseases; Child; Coinfection - epidemiology; Coinfection - virology; Endemic Diseases; Female; Hepatitis; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B, Chronic - epidemiology; Hepatitis B, Chronic - virology; Hepatitis D - blood; Hepatitis D - epidemiology; Hepatitis D - immunology; Hepatitis D - virology; Hepatitis delta virus; HIV; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - virology; HIV-1 - isolation & purification; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; India - epidemiology; Infections; Interferon; Liver cirrhosis; Male; Middle Aged; Patients; Prevalence; India; hepatitis B virus (HBV); human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); hepatitis delta virus (HDV); coinfection in India
• ISSN: 2325-9574; 2325-9582; 2325-9582
• DOI: 10.1177/2325957413488166

We conducted a study to investigate HIV and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) coinfection among patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the triple infection’s (HIV/HBV/HDV) clinical implications in India, an intermediate HBV endemic region, with an estimated HIV-positive population of 2.5 million. A total of 450 patients (men: 270; women: 180) with chronic HBV infections and 135 healthy volunteers were screened for HIV and HDV. The incidence of the triple infection was low (4 [0.8%]) compared with dual infections of HIV-1/HBV (7 [1.5%]) and HBV/HDV (22[4.8%]). Among 21- to 40-year-olds, HBV/HDV coinfection (45.8%) and HBV/HDV/HIV-1 triple infection was predominant (75%). Among 11 patients coinfected with HIV-1/HBV, 4 (36%) were tri-infected and were also associated with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. The HDV coinfection was higher among patients coinfected with HBV/HIV-1, despite the declining trend in HDV infection among HIV-negative patients, as previously reported. Thus, it is important to assess the impact of HIV, chronic HBV, and HDV tri-infection in India.