Abstract:

To investigate the prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients.
Ｍｅｔｈｏｄｏｌｏｇｙ：MHD patients in our dialysis units from December 2014 to December 2015 were enrolled. HBV marker was examined by ELISA. The sera from HBcAb (+)/HBsAg (-) individuals were tested for HBVDNA by a realtime quantitative PCR to investigate the prevalence of OBI.
Ｒｅｓｕｌｔｓ：（1）They were three hundred and thirty patients, 557% were male and 443% were female with a mean age of 607±143 years. 24 (73%) patients had chronic HBV infection (HBsAg positive). 180 (545%) patients were HBcAb (+)/HBsAg (-) which suggested past infection. (2)Plasma samples of 165 patients with past HBV infection were obtained for HBVDNA detection. Elevated HBVDNA level (<20 IU/ml) was detected in 7 (42%) patients, therefore the prevalence of OBI was 22% (7/315) in all the dialysis patients. (3)Comparing the 7 patients with OBI, it was found that male were more prone to OBI (P=0042), and vaccination may be effective in preventing OBI (P=0010) in the 158 patients who were HBVDNA negative. (4)The prevalence of OBI in HBcAb (+)/HBsAb (-) patients (65%) was higher than that in HBcAb (+)/HBsAb (+) patients (38%), but the difference was not significant (P=0617).
Ｃｏｎｃｌｕｓｉｏｎ：
545% of MHD patients in our center had evidence of past HBV infection, and the prevalence of OBI was 22% with very low level of HBVDNA. However, there may be a potential risk that the patients with OBI may transmit infection within dialysis units, especially when the patient was  HBcAb (+)/HBsAb (-).