       Document 0334
 DOCN  M9550334
 TI    Hepatitis delta virus in intravenous drug users in Kuala Lumpur.
 DT    9505
 AU    Duraisamy G; Zuridah H; Ariffin Y; Kek CS; Blood Services Centre,
       Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
 SO    Med J Malaysia. 1994 Sep;49(3):212-6. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/95147749
 AB    The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is an RNA containing virus that requires
       hepatitis B virus (HBV) to supply the envelope proteins. HDV only infect
       man in the presence of HBV, either as a coinfection or as superinfection
       in HBV carriers. In the presence of hepatitis B infection, the HDV may
       cause more severe liver damage than that caused by the hepatitis B virus
       alone. HDV infection was studied in 44 HBsAg positive serum samples
       collected from male intravenous drug users sent for screening to the
       Blood Services Centre (BSC), Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) between 1990
       and 1992. The majority (39) were in the 20 to 39 age group. The youngest
       was 19 years old and the oldest was 61 years old. There were 25 Malays,
       13 Chinese, five Indians and one Albanian. Anti hepatitis delta antibody
       (Anti-HDV) was detected in 15 out of 44 (34%) of the drug addicts. These
       results shows an increased in delta infection in HBsAg positive
       intravenous drug addicts compared to the surveillance results in 1985
       when no delta antibodies were detected, and the 1986 and 1989
       surveillance which showed 17.8% and 20% delta antibody positivity
       respectively.
 DE    Adult  Delta Infection/*EPIDEMIOLOGY  Human  HIV Infections/EPIDEMIOLOGY
       Malaysia/EPIDEMIOLOGY  Male  Middle Age  Prevalence  Substance Abuse,
       Intravenous/*EPIDEMIOLOGY  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

