Abstract

Hepatitis D virüs (HDV) is a defective RNA virüs that produce infection onty in the presence of hepatitis B virüs (HBV). İt is estimated that about 10 million people are infected vvith HDV worldwide. Epidemiologic investigations show that about 20% of the HBV carriers in east and southeast Turkey have HDV süper infection, therefore HDV infection can be considered one of the important health problems in our country. in this retrospective study we measured prevalence of anti-HD V antibody in our HBsAg positive patients. Anti-HDV antibody were detected by enzyme-iinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA-Abbot Axsym). From 86 patients that were included in the study 84 patients (97.67%) were negative for anti-HDV antibody. According to this result prevalence of HDV infection in our patient population is low, however because HDV infection in patients who are chronicaly infected vvith HBV can progress more rapidly tovvard cirrhosis and terminal hepatic failure we prefer and suggest screening for anti-HDV antibody in HBV infected patients.