A project led by Dr. Ariadna Rando Segura, specialist at the Microbiology Department of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital and researcher of the Microbiology group of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) in collaboration with the group of the CIBER of Liver and Digestive Diseases (CIBEREHD) led by Dr. Maria Buti, has received a grant in the 5th edition of the Gilead Grants for projects of Microelimination in Hepatitis C and epidemiology in hepatitis D, delivered during the Congress of the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH). The work will optimize a diagnostic algorithm for screening for hepatitis D virus infection.

Hepatitis D is considered the most severe form of viral hepatitis in its chronic form, given its more rapid progression to hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic death. This viral hepatitis is caused by the hepatitis D virus, which only infects patients previously infected with hepatitis B virus. Globally, it is estimated that of 296 million people living with chronic hepatitis B virus infection in 2019, hepatitis D virus would have infected nearly 5%, about 15 million people. However, some estimates indicate that the number infected with hepatitis D virus could be much higher, reaching up to 60 million individuals.

The main objective of the project that is now being launched is to estimate the prevalence of active hepatitis D virus infection in new diagnoses of hepatitis B virus infection in the Barcelona area. In addition, the impact of optimizing the detection of hepatitis D virus infections in new cases of positive hepatitis B virus surface antigen, using strategies that have proven successful in increasing diagnosis and linkage to antiviral treatment in the case of hepatitis C virus infection, will be evaluated. These strategies include reflex determination of anti-HDV antibodies in all new hepatitis B virus surface antigen-positive cases, or alternative sample collection methods.