Hepatitis B Virus Infection Among Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease Who Attended an Educational Program in Japan.

The rate of hepatitis B infection among hemodialysis patients is high. However, it is not clear if this rate reflects the infection rate among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Therefore, we evaluated the rate of hepatitis B infection among patients with CKD. This is an important clinical issue when considering the risk of infection to medical staff when performing invasive procedures in this clinical population. A retrospective, observational study was conducted among stable, non-dialysis patients with CKD who attended a CKD educational program at our hospital, between August 2012 and October 2017. We collected patients' background and markers of hepatitis infection (HBsAg, HBcAb and HBsAb, as well as HBV-DNA when available) from medical records. The data from 496 patients (373 men and 123 women, with a mean age of 69.3 ± 13.0 years and mean level of creatinine of 3.15 ± 1.72 mg/dL, AST of 21.6 ± 10.5 IU/L, and ALT of 17.3 ± 12.5 IU/L), were included in the analysis. The rate of positive testing for hepatitis B virus infection was as follows: HBsAg, 1.6%; HBsAb, 16.5%; and HBcAb, 21.4%. Of the patients with a negative HBsAg test, 20.1% tested positive for HBcAb. Of the 66 patients in whom HBV-DNA testing was performed, 10.6% tested positive. The rate of hepatitis B virus infection was specifically higher among patients ≥71-years-old. In patients with CKD, the rate of HBsAg positivity is high. Rate of HBcAb positivity is higher particularly in older individuals.