Hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) virus infection are the most important infections transmitted by the parenteral route in hemodialysis patients. This study is the first report of prevalence of viral hepatitis and hepatitis C virus genotypes in southwest Iran among hemodialysis patients. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 214 hemodialysis patients of the Central hemodialysis unit, from M...

BACKGROUND Presence of occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) renders HBs antigen (HBsAg) undetectable by ELISA. Therefore it is valuable to evaluate the frequency of OBI among healthy blood donors to improve and perhaps change the strategies of blood screening to reduce the risk of HBV transmission. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the presence of HBcAb and HBV DNA among Iranian...

BACKGROUND Based on differences in individual immune responses to the hepatitis B virus (HBV), between 5% and 10% of patients become persistently infected with the virus, which leads to the determination of chronic HBV. Cytokines such as interferon gamma (IFN-γ) are secretory proteins that play important roles in both innate and adaptive immune responses. Functional studies have demonstrated th...

Despite the availability of an effective vaccine, Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection still remains a foremost health problem. Undoubtedly, finding the key routes of hepatitis transmission from the point of prevention in every country, specifically in endemic regions, is of high priority. Such efforts are especially important given that many infected patients with hepatitis are asymptomatic (1, 2...

BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS Hepatitis Delta Virus (HDV) is a defective ssRNA virus requiring the provision of hepatitis B virus (HBV) for packaging of new HDV virions. Since the epidemiological features of HDV in this part of Iran seem to be unknown, the aim of this research was to determine the seroprevalence of HDV of hepatitis B surface antigen positive (HBsAg+) in blood donors, injecting drug user...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are common infections among prisoners. Addicted prisoners are at a higher risk than the normal population for contracting these diseases. Many studies have reported higher prevalence rates of HBV, HCV, and HIV in prisoners. Because of this problem, this study was conducted to evaluate th...

Background: Following WHO recommendation, HBV vaccination has been integrated into EPI program in Iran since 1996. Objective: To evaluate the immunogenicity and protective effect of HB vaccine (recombinant Heberbiovac ,Cuba ) in vaccinated children and adults . Methods: A total of 542 cases (340 children and 202 adults) were vaccinated using a three-doses schedule of zero, one and six month. Bl...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are also likely to be at risk for other infectious pathogens including hepatitis B(HBV) and C(HCV) viruses, which complicate the clinical course, management, and therapy. The literature on the prevalence of HBV/HCV coinfection with HIV in Iran is sparse. Hence this study was conducted to investigate this coinfection pattern an...

We measured the prevalence of HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) among male injection drug users (IDUs) in Detention, Tehran, Iran. A cross-sectional survey included 499 male IDUs arrested by police during a predetermined police sweep in Tehran (February, 2006). A questionnaire was filled out for each individual. Blood specimens were collected for HBsAg testing. Prevalence of HBsAg was 5.8% (95% CI 3....

Background: Blood transfusion plays a great role in public health and the blood safety still has remained a main concern. HBV has been considered as one of the most prevalent blood borne infections. It is estimated that chronic HBV affects 350-400 million people worldwide. Comprehensive knowledge about HBV has high importance in Iran due to high number of blood dependent patients. Material ...