BACKGROUND Seroconversion rates reported after Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination globally ranges from 85-90%. Health care workers (HCWs) are at high risk of acquiring HBV and non responders' rates after HBV vaccination were not reported previously in Pakistani HCWs. Therefore we evaluated immune response to HBV vaccine in HCWs at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS Descri...

BACKGROUND HBV and HCV reactivation have been widely reported in patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy (IT); however, few data are available on the risk of reactivation in patients with psoriasis receiving IT. The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of HBV and HCV infection in patients with psoriasis and to evaluate the effects of IT during the course of the infection. METHO...

OBJECTIVE. To serially evaluate the viral kinetics of occult hepatitis B virus infection in lymphoma patients and perform a correlation with clinical outcomes. DESIGN. Case series with 1-year follow-up. SETTING. Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS. Consecutive patients who were newly diagnosed to have lymphoma in the hospital between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008 were tested for hepatitis B...

BACKGROUND Measures of the effectiveness of risk minimization activities are necessary for the appropriate use of drugs, and clinical databases are a low-cost method of quickly producing such results. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to explore the secondary application of clinical databases in verifying the impact of risk minimization activities; specifically, whether such databases could...

BACKGROUND Absence of an immunocompetent mouse model of persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has hindered the research of HBV infection and the development of antiviral medications. OBJECTIVES In the present study, we aimed to develop a novel HBV genotype C mouse model by hydrodynamic injection (HI) and then used it to evaluate the antiviral activity of lamivudine. MATERIALS AND MET...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are major health problem in the world. Hairdressers (barbers) are in continuous contact with scissors and blades, and are considered a high-risk group for these infections. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of hepatitis B and C infections in barbers in Tehran and to evaluate their attitudes ...

Immunization with recombinant HBV vaccine induces specific immune responses in human causing B lymphocytes to produce protective HBsAb, and to form memory B lymphocytes, thereby facilitating HBV immunity in the body. However, B lymphocytes heterogeneity and characteristics are not fully elucidated. In this study, we conducted high-throughput sequencing of BCR heavy chain CDR3 repertoires in 3 h...

BACKGROUND Female prisoners are at risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs). There has been no previous study regarding the epidemiological status of STIs among female prisoners in Isfahan, central Iran. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of the aforementioned infections among women incarcerated in the central prison, Isfahan, t...

BACKGROUND Screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is recommended worldwide for patients receiving systemic chemotherapy in accordance with clinical guidelines, but compliance varies by country and facility. Alert systems may be useful for promoting screening, but it is unclear how effective such systems are. In this study, we investigated HBV screening procedures and their incorporatio...