Seroepidemiology of Hepatitis B and Delta Virus Infections in Bangladesh

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the most prevalent public health problems worldwide, and causes 1 million deaths annually. In Bangladesh, information about prevalence of HBV infection is scarce, and there is no available data on HDV infection. We determined rates of HBsAg and anti-HBc seropositivity in asymptomatic, healthy children (n = 181) and adults (n = 354) presenting to referral facilities in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and tested a separate group of HBsAg-positive patients (n = 180) for prevalence of HDV. Testing of serum was also performed for signs of liver disease. Overall, seropositivity of HBsAg and anti-HBc in studied subjects was 3 per cent (16/534) and 21.1 per cent (113/534), respectively. Prevalence of HBsAg was highest in the…