Prevalence of hepatitis B virus markers among drug-dependent patients in Jeddah Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of HBV markers--hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) and antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) among drug-dependent patients in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Over a period of four months, all the patients admitted for drug dependence were tested for these HBV markers. There were 349 patients altogether of which 281 (80.5%) were intravenous drug users. 44 were positive for HBsAg, 171 were positive for anti-HBs and 187 were positive for anti-HBc, giving an overall prevalence of 12.6%, 49.0% and 53.6%, respectively. The prevalence of each marker was higher among the IV drug users. The high prevalence of the markers indicate that HBV is highly endemic among drug-dependent patients in this city, especially among the IV drug users and that almost half of all the patients have developed some immunity to the virus. Many of the drug-dependent HBsAg carriers also possess HBeAg. The persistence of these two antigens makes them highly infectious and predisposes them to chronic liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma. There is a need for more public education and needle and syringe exchange schemes to control the spread of the virus and prevent future complications.