TY - JOUR T1 - Influence of delta infection on severity of hepatitis B. AU - Smedile,A, AU - Farci,P, AU - Verme,G, AU - Caredda,F, AU - Cargnel,A, AU - Caporaso,N, AU - Dentico,P, AU - Trepo,C, AU - Opolon,P, AU - Gimson,A, AU - Vergani,D, AU - Williams,R, AU - Rizzetto,M, PY - 1982/10/30/pubmed PY - 1982/10/30/medline PY - 1982/10/30/entrez SP - 945 EP - 7 JF - Lancet (London, England) JO - Lancet VL - 2 IS - 8305 N2 - The prevalence of serum markers of primary delta infection was determined in 532 patients with acute benign hepatitis B seen in Italy, and in 111 patients with fulminant hepatitis B seen in Italy, France and England. Patients with fulminant hepatitis had significantly higher prevalence of delta markers (43/111, 39%) than did those with benign hepatitis (101/532, 19%). In 25 of the 43 patients with delta-positive fulminant hepatitis, serum markers indicated a primary hepatitis B infection while in the remaining 18, IgM antibody to hepatitis B core antigen was absent, indicating that hepatitis B preceded superinfection with the delta agent. The increased morbidity of HBsAg hepatitis with delta infection may result from the cumulative simultaneous exposure to hepatitis B virus and delta, or from superinfection of HBsAg carriers with delta. SN - 0140-6736 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/6127458/full_citation L2 - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140-6736(82)90156-8 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -