Treatment with bulevirtide in HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis D: ANRS HD EP01 BuleDelta and compassionate cohort.

Background & Aims: In France, bulevirtide (BLV) became available in September 2019 through an early access program to treat patients with HDV. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BLV in patients with HIV and HDV coinfection.

Methods: Patients received BLV 2 mg ± pegylated interferon-α (pegIFNα) according to the physician's decision.

HDV RNA assays: Performance characteristics, clinical utility, and challenges.

Coinfection with HBV and HDV results in hepatitis D, the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis, frequently leading to liver decompensation and HCC. Pegylated interferon alpha, the only treatment option for chronic hepatitis D for many years, has limited efficacy. New treatments are in advanced clinical development, with one recent approval.

HIV-1 infection in South Kivu (Democratic Republic of Congo): high genotypic resistance to antiretrovirals.

Background: Panzi General Reference Hospital (HGR Panzi) in the Democratic Republic of Congo follows a large number of patients living with HIV-1 (PLWHIV). Although antiretrovirals (ARVs) are available, HIV-1 viral load (HIV-VL) measurement has only been implemented in the hospital since 2018. No data on ARV resistance levels and ARV dosage in plasma have yet been published for this region.

Clinical and virological features of chronic hepatitis B in the French national surveillance program, 2008-2012: A cross-sectional study.

Background & Aims: Among people living with HBV, only a subset of individuals with chronic hepatitis is in need of treatment, and this proportion varies according to the population, region, and setting. No estimates of the proportion of people who are infected with HBV and meet the treatment eligibility criteria in France are available.

Methods: 552 treatment-naïve individuals with chronic HBV infection referred for the first time to a hepatology reference centre between 2008 and 2012 were prospectively included.

Hepatitis B, C, and delta in the general population in Mayotte: hepatitis B as a major public health concern.

Background: Located in southwestern Indian Ocean, Mayotte is a French territory, with a very specific demographic, social and health context. To date, epidemiological data on infections by hepatitis B (HBV), C (HCV), and delta (HDV) viruses in Mayotte have been sparse. We aimed to estimate, in the 15-69-year-old general population living in Mayotte, the prevalence of infections by hepatitis B (HBV), C (HCV), and delta (HDV) viruses and the distribution of HBV status: current infection with positive HBs antigen (Ag); resolved infection with positive HBc antibodies and negative HBsAg; immunisation by vaccination with only positive HBs antibodies; and no infection/no immunisation with negative markers.

A Rapid Point-of-Care Test for the Serodiagnosis of Hepatitis Delta Virus Infection.

Hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) is a satellite of the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and causes severe liver disease. The estimated prevalence of 15-20 million infected people worldwide may be underestimated as international diagnostic guidelines are not routinely followed. Possible reasons for this include the limited awareness among healthcare providers, the requirement for costly equipment and specialized training, and a lack of access to reliable tests in regions with poor medical infrastructure.

Comprehensive Analysis of Hepatitis Delta Virus Assembly Determinants According to Genotypes: Lessons From a Study of 526 Hepatitis Delta Virus Clinical Strains.

Human hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) infection is associated to the most severe viral hepatic disease, including severe acute liver decompensation and progression to cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. HDV is a satellite of hepatitis B virus (HBV) that requires the HBV envelope proteins for assembly of HDV virions. HDV and HBV exhibit a large genetic diversity that extends, respectively to eight (HDV-1 to -8) and to ten (HBV/A to/J) genotypes.

Variable In Vivo Hepatitis D Virus (HDV) RNA Editing Rates According to the HDV Genotype.

Human hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a small defective RNA satellite virus that requires hepatitis B virus (HBV) envelope proteins to form its own virions. The HDV genome possesses a single coding open reading frame (ORF), located on a replicative intermediate, the antigenome, encoding the small (s) and the large (L) isoforms of the delta antigen (s-HDAg and L-HDAg). The latter is produced following an editing process, changing the amber/stop codon on the s-HDAg-ORF into a tryptophan codon, allowing L-HDAg synthesis by the addition of 19 (or 20) C-terminal amino acids.

Early virological response in six patients with hepatitis D virus infection and compensated cirrhosis treated with Bulevirtide in real-life.

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection is the most severe form of viral hepatitis. Bulevirtide (BLV, Hepcludex ) is an HDV/HBV entry inhibitor approved in June 2020 in the European Union for adult patients with chronic hepatitis delta (CHD) and compensated liver disease and positive HDV RNA viral load. This real-life preliminary report described early virological efficacy and safety of BLV in six patients with CHD and compensated liver disease: four patients were treated with the combination of BLV (2 mg/d in subcutaneous injection) and pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and two patients with BLV monotherapy.

Performance of 30 commercial SARS-CoV-2 serology assays in testing symptomatic COVID-19 patients.

We report evaluation of 30 assays' (17 rapid tests (RDTs) and 13 automated/manual ELISA/CLIA assay (IAs)) clinical performances with 2594 sera collected from symptomatic patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 rRT-PCR on a respiratory sample, and 1996 pre-epidemic serum samples expected to be negative. Only 4 RDT and 3 IAs fitted both specificity (> 98%) and sensitivity (> 90%) criteria according to French recommendations. Serology may offer valuable information during COVID-19 pandemic, but inconsistent performances observed among the 30 commercial assays evaluated, which underlines the importance of independent evaluation before clinical implementation.

Origin, HDV genotype and persistent viremia determine outcome and treatment response in patients with chronic hepatitis delta.

Background & Aims: HDV infection causes severe chronic liver disease in individuals infected with HBV. However, the factors associated with poor prognosis are largely unknown. Thus, we aimed to identify prognostic factors in patients with HDV infection.

Characterization of hepatitis delta virus strains spreading in Abuja, Nigeria.

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is responsible for the most severe form of liver disease in humans. So far, eight genotypes (HDV-1 to -8) have been individualized worldwide. Little is known about HDV strains that spread in Nigeria.

Hepatitis B virus and hepatitis delta virus subtypes circulating in Algeria and seroprevalence of HDV infection.

Background: Little is known about molecular characteristics of HBV strains circulating in Algeria and there are few data regarding HDV infection.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe the genetic diversity of HBV and HDV strains existing in Algeria and to determine the seroprevalence of HDV infection.

Study Design: Plasma samples from 134 patients were analyzed by enzyme immunoassay method for HBV and HDV serological markers.

Hepatitis B and hepatitis D virus infections in the Central African Republic, twenty-five years after a fulminant hepatitis outbreak, indicate continuing spread in asymptomatic young adults.

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) increases morbidity in Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients. In the mid-eighties, an outbreak of HDV fulminant hepatitis (FH) in the Central African Republic (CAR) killed 88% of patients hospitalized in Bangui. We evaluated infections with HBV and HDV among students and pregnant women, 25 years after the fulminant hepatitis (FH) outbreak to determine (i) the prevalence of HBV and HDV infection in this population, (ii) the clinical risk factors for HBV and/or HDV infections, and (iii) to characterize and compare the strains from the FH outbreak in the 1980s to the 2010 HBV-HDV strains.

Molecular characterization of the full-length genome sequences of HDV strains circulating in Tunisia.

While Tunisia is endemic for hepatitis B virus (HBV), a recent large-scale retrospective study, revealed a very low prevalence (2%) of hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) (Yacoubi et al. in J Clin Virol 72:126-132, 2015). All strains were classified within the genotype 1 (HDV-1) as assessed by nucleotide sequencing of the so-called 'R0' region of the genome described previously.

Genetic diversity and worldwide distribution of the deltavirus genus: A study of 2,152 clinical strains.

Unlabelled: Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is responsible for the most severe form of acute and chronic viral hepatitis. We previously proposed that the Deltavirus genus is composed of eight major clades. However, few sequences were available to confirm this classification.