Status of hepatitis viral markers in patients with acute and chronic liver diseases in northern India

Abstract

The present study describes the frequency of hepatitis viral markers in patients with uncomplicated acute viral hepatitis (AVH; n = 32) and in patients with severe liver diseases, including those with fulminant hepatic failure (FHF; n = 110), subacute hepatic failure (SAHF; n = 65), and chronic active hepatitis (CAH; n = 33). The results indicate that hepatitis A virus infection is quite rare, whereas hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are the predominant causes of acute and chronic liver failure in India. The incidence of HBV infection in AVH, FHF, SAHF, and CAH groups was recorded in 3.7, 19.1, 23.1, and 69.7% of the cases, respectively. Similarly, HCV infection in these four groups was noted in 12.5,45, 44.6, and 48.5% of the cases, respectively. Further analysis of HCV infection demonstrated that it was as frequent as single infection in acute cases, but more commonly found in association with HBV infection in chronic liver failure cases. Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection, as indicated by the presence of IgM anti-HDV antibodies, was recorded in 7.3% of the cases with AVH, in 7.3% of the cases with FHF, in 9.2% of the cases with SAHF, and in 6.1 % of the cases with CAH. HDV was associated with HBV both as superinfection as well as coinfection. Interestingly, nearly 2-6% of the cases in each group showed the presence of simultaneous HBV, HCV, and HDV infection. 83.3% of the AVH, 42.1% of the FHF, 37.0% of the SAHF, and 15.1% of the CAH patients had unknown viral markers. The possible etiology in these groups will also be discussed here.