ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Sudha Kumari Singh1 , Sanjib Kumar Kar2, Sachidananda Das1 and Runu Chakravarty3
1Department of Zoology, Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar – 751 004, India.
2Department of Gastroenterology, S.C.B. Medical College, Cuttack – 753 007, India.
3ICMR Virus Unit, Kolkata, ID & BG Hospital Campus, Kolkata – 700 010, India.
J. Pure Appl. Microbiol., 2016, 10 (3): 2189-2198
© The Author(s). 2016
Received: 10/01/2016 | Accepted: 09/02/2016 | Published: 30/09/2016
Abstract

Occult HBV infection (OBI) is an important cause of cryptogenic cirrhosis and HBV reactivation during immunosuppression. There is limited data on OBI. Our aim was to study the prevalence of OBI in coastal Odisha and identify risk factors for HBV transmission in occult HBV infection. 173 consecutive apparently healthy volunteers were subjected to a questionnaire for risk factors for HBV infection. All underwent Anti-HBc assay, and those positive underwent PCR for HBV DNA. There were 173 HBsAg negative subjects; sex ratio was 7:1 [male:female] with mean age 39.2±10.6 years. Fifteen (8.7%) were anti-HBc positive, of whom 9(5.3%) were HBV DNA positive. Prevalence of risk factors in overall (171) and OBI (9) individuals were: history of jaundice (19/2; p =0.258), hospitalization(24/4; p =0.112), dental procedure (45/4; P =0.241), ear piercing (18/1; p =1.0), exposure to community barbers (39/5; p =0.028), promiscuity (15/3; P =0.032), childhood immunization (132/8; p =0.0688). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, exposure to community barbers (C I= 0.009-0.165, P =0.029) and promiscuity (CI= 0.032-0.263, P =0.013) were independent predictors of occult HBV infection. The prevalence of OBI in coastal Odisha was 5.3%. Exposure to community barbers and promiscuous sexual habit were independent predictors of occult HBV infection.

Keywords

Epidemiology, Hepatitis B, Occult HBV, Risk factors.

Article Metrics

Article View: 1289

Share This Article

Journal Tools

© The Author(s) 2016. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.