Prevalence of hepatitis delta infections among HBs-antigen-positive inhabitants of southeastern and northwestern parts of Poland

Abstract

Hepatitis delta (HDV) virus still poses a serious health problem worldwide. Being a satellite particle, it may complete its life cycle only in the presence of HBs antigen produced by hepatitis B virus (HBV). According to epidemiological data, about 5% of HBs antigen carriers are infected with this virus, which equates to approximately 15-20 million individuals worldwide. Although the infection with both HBV and HDV viruses is considered to be the worst form of viral hepatitis, the only approved treatment, with pegylated interferon α, is not satisfactory. Thus effective and safe therapy is still lacking, which stands in contrast to the latest development in therapeutic areas of HBV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. As the exact data on prevalence of this infection in some countries as well as natural history of this disease are still incomplete, further studies are warranted. Polish investigations on this field are very scarce and at most dating from the 1990s. This publication makes another attempt to broaden our knowledge of this temporarily forgotten but still ongoing and complex problem.