Impact of Low Hepatitis Delta Virus Screening Rates on the Accurate Estimation of Seroprevalence in Florida: A...

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a hepatotropic virus that can accelerate the progression of liver disease to cirrhosis and is associated with an increased risk of liver-related mortality and liver cancer. As a defective single-stranded RNA virus, it can only occur with acute hepatitis B or in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. In light of these risks, current screening guidelines recommend universal screening in all hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive individuals and those at risk for HDV. Unfortunately, HDV seroprevalence data remains limited due to low rates of HDV screening in the US and worldwide.

The aim of this study is to determine HDV regional screening rates, prevalence, and associated factors using OneFlorida research data.

Adult patients aged 18-99 with a previous HBV diagnosis were identified using OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network data. Using International Classification of Diseases codes, HBV-positive patients were categorized as definite, probable, or possible. This data was then analyzed using a two-sample t-test to determine possible associations with race, gender, or age.

We found that among patients who were tested, HDV seroprevalence was 4.7%. Of the total of 8,744 individuals included in the study, only 225 (2.6%) underwent HDV antibody testing. Although there was no significant difference in age or race, males were more likely to undergo HDV testing.

Despite a low screening rate, HDV seroprevalence in Florida was approximate to previous estimations of HDV positivity.