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Publications

Journal Article Ppublish

PubMed: 42834655 DOI: 10.1111/liv.70913

Trends in Hepatitis D Virus Prevalence Among HBsAg-Positive Individuals With and Without HIV in Italy: A Converging Epidemiology.

Liver Int 46(11):e70913

Authors: Massimo Puoti, Alessandro Tavelli, Giuseppina Brancaccio, Maria Giovanna Quaranta, Maria Elena Tosti, Giovanni Battista Gaeta, Loreta A Kondili, Antonella d'Arminio Monforte

Affiliations

  • School of Medicine University Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
  • Infectious Diseases Department, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milano, Italy.
  • Icona Foundation, Milan, Italy.
  • National PhD Programme in One Health Approaches to Infectious Diseases and Life Science Research, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
  • Department of Life Sciences, Health and Health Professions Infectious Diseases, Link Campus University, Rome, Italy.
  • National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
  • Infectious Diseases, University L. Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy.
  • UniCamillus-Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection has historically been more prevalent among people with HIV (PWH) due to shared transmission routes. Whether HIV status still identifies a subgroup at higher risk of HDV in contemporary settings remains unclear.

METHODS

We performed two cross-sectional analyses assessing anti-HDV prevalence among HBsAg-positive PWH enrolled in the ICONA cohort in 2009-2012 and 2019-2023, compared with HIV-negative individuals from the MASTER and PITER cohorts.

RESULTS

Anti-HDV prevalence among PWH declined from 19.1% to 12.5%, converging with that observed in HIV-negative individuals (12.7%). Injection drug use markedly decreased over time among PWH and remained the strongest determinant of HDV infection. In multivariable analyses, HDV seropositivity was associated with age, injection drug use, and birth outside Italy, but not with HIV infection in the contemporary period.

CONCLUSION

These findings indicate that HIV infection is no longer independently associated with HDV infection in this setting and support universal HDV screening strategies.

MeSH

Hepatitis B Surface Antigens, Hepatitis D, Epidemiology, Pharmaceutical Preparations, Hepatitis Delta Virus, Liver, Viruses, Prevalence, Infections, Hepatitis