[Prevalence of anti-delta antibodies in HBsAg carriers].

: In order to bring out the prevalence of infections caused by Delta virus dependent upon HBV for its replication, we investigated the presence of anti-D antibodies in individuals who determined as positive for HBsAg, by using EIA method. Of the 81 HBsAg positive individuals; seventy-two were asymptomatic HBsAg carriers (88.9), six had acute symptomatic hepatitis (7.4%) and three suffered from chronic liver disease (3.7%). Only 4 individuals who were all asymptomatic carriers were positive for anti-D antibody (4.9%) and the percentage of anti-D antibody in asymptomatic carrier group was 5.5% (4/72).