الفهرس 
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Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a serious health issue worldwide. While CHB can lead to several severe liver diseases. HD patients are at high risk for acquiring blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis B because of frequent blood transfusions, prolonged vascular exposure, cross contamination from the HD circles, contaminated equipment and wrong practices during preparation of the patients in the HD units, and frequent exposure to infected patients.
OBI is defined as the presence of HBV DNA in the patient’s serum and/or hepatocytes, but a lack of serum HBsAg. OBI is capable of transmitting infection in HD units. OBI is considered a high potential risk factor for hepatitis, cirrhosis, and HCC. Although the implementation of screening tests for HBsAg has significantly reduced the spread of HBV infection among HD patients, it fails to detect OBI cases. CHB and OBI have been previously reported in HD patients with different rates.
Yemen is consider as one of the high endemic regions with HBV, and since there is lack of information on the prevalence of occult HBV in HD patients in Yemen, this study aimed to reveal the extent of prevalence of OBI among chronic HD patients in Hodeidah city. To our knowledge, this is the first study of OBI in HD patients in Hodeidah city, if not in Yemen.
The study included 150 patients (9 to 75 years), undergoing HD at regular basis. Sera samples were collected prior to the HD session, liver enzymes assessed using commercially available kits, and HBsAg as well as other serological markers of HBV measured using commercial ELISA kits and rapid cards. HBsAg-negative samples were tested for the presence of HBV DNA using SYBR GREEN qPCR. All data were statistically analyzed.
The prevalence of positive HBsAg, anti-HBcAg, and anti-HBsAg was 42.67%, 86.0%, and 55.3% respectively, mostly represented by males. The majority of positive HBsAg patients were found to be <30 years old (50.0%) followed by 30-50 year (34.4%). The relation between age and the presence of HBsAg was found to be statistically significant (P< 0.05). Out of the 86 (57.33%) HBsAg-negative patients, 69.8% were males, and 30.2% were females, also, we noticed a statistically significant (P < 0.05) between HBsAg and both of anti-HBsAg and total anti-HBcAg. No significant relationship existed between the presence of HBsAg and the levels of liver enzymes. Occult HBV infection was detected in ” ” " ~ " ” ”78% of HBsAg-negative patients which is considered remarkably high. Therefore, occult HBV infection appears to be a significant health issue in HD patients in Hodeidah city, Yemen.