The Medical Impact of Hepatitis D Virus Infection in Natives and Immigrants: The Italian Paradigm.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aim

Ongoing migratory flows are reconstituting the hepatitis D virus (HDV) reservoir in Italy. We aimed to characterise the current clinical and virologic features of HDV infection in both native Italians and migrants.

Methods

We enrolled 515 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive patients with detectable anti-HDV antibodies from 32 Italian centres between August 2022 and July 2024; all patients underwent centralised virologic assessment.

Results

Overall, 432 out of 515 (83.9%) patients were HDV-RNA-positive (4.39, 1.30-5.82 Log IU/mL; 99.0% HDV genotype-1). HDV-RNA levels correlated with ALT (r_s = 0575, 0.514-0.630) and hepatitis B core-related antigen (r_s = 0.521, 0.455-0.581). Native Italians (n = 317; 61.6%) were older th

SUBMITTER: Caviglia GP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12306849 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature