Prevalence of antibody to hepatitis D virus among HBsAg-positive drug-dependent patients in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Over a period of ten months, all the patients admitted for drug dependence were tested for HBsAg. The positive cases were tested for anti-HDV. The anti-HDV-positive patients were further tested for liver function tests (LFTs) and anti-HCV. A total of one thousand three hundred and twenty one patients were tested. Out of this, 1038 were intravenous drug users (IDUs) and 283 were non-IDUs. Eighty one patients were HBsAg positive (75 IDUs and six non-IDUs). Eleven patients were anti-HDV positive--all were IDUs. The overall prevalence of anti-HDV among HBsAg-positive patients was 13.6%. Among HBsAg-positive IDUs, it was 14.7% and it was 0.0% for HBsAg-positive non-IDUs. Nine (81.8%) of the eleven anti-HDV-positive patients were also positive for anti-HCV and eight (72.7%) had abnormal LFTs. In view of the association of hepatitis B, C and D viruses with chronic liver disease recommendations have been made to control the spread of these viruses and to prevent liver disease.