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©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Jun 28, 2015; 7(12): 1671-1678
Published online Jun 28, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i12.1671
Published online Jun 28, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i12.1671
Occult hepatitis B virus infection in Egypt
Ashraf Elbahrawy, Ahmed Elwassief, Ahmed Alashker, Abdallah Mahmoud Abdallah, Department of Internal Medicine, Al-Azhar School of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11884, Egypt
Alshimaa Alaboudy, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Alberta, Alberta T6G 2R3, Canada
Alshimaa Alaboudy, Department of Tropical Medicine and Gastroenterology, Sohag University, Sohag 11432, Egypt
Walid El Moghazy, Department of HPB Surgery and Transplantation, University of Alberta, Alberta T6G 2R3, Canada
Walid El Moghazy, Department of Surgery, Sohag University, Sohag 11432, Egypt
Author contributions: Elbahrawy A, Alaboudy A, El Moghazy W and Elwassief A designed and wrote the review; Alashker A and Abdallah AM contributed to analysis and interpretation of data.
Conflict-of-interest: None to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Ashraf Elbahrawy, Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Al-Azhar School of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo 11884, Egypt. bahrawy3@hotmail.com
Telephone: +20-2-25109140 Fax: +20-2-25109140
Received: November 29, 2014
Peer-review started: December 2, 2014
First decision: January 8, 2015
Revised: January 27, 2015
Accepted: May 8, 2015
Article in press: May 11, 2015
Published online: June 28, 2015
Peer-review started: December 2, 2014
First decision: January 8, 2015
Revised: January 27, 2015
Accepted: May 8, 2015
Article in press: May 11, 2015
Published online: June 28, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype D is the only detectable genotype among Egyptian occult HBV infection (OBI) patients. Higher rates of OBI reported among Egyptian chronic HCV, hemodialysis, children with malignant disorders, and cryptogenic liver disease patients. There is an evidence of OBI reactivation after treatment with chemotherapy. The available data suggested that screening for OBI must be a routine practice in these groups of patients. Further studies are needed to understand the epidemiology of OBI among Egyptian young generations after the era of hepatitis B vaccination.