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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Dec 28, 2015; 7(30): 2955-2961
Published online Dec 28, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i30.2955
Hepatitis B virus infection in immigrant populations
Nicola Coppola, Loredana Alessio, Mariantonietta Pisaturo, Margherita Macera, Caterina Sagnelli, Rosa Zampino, Evangelista Sagnelli
Nicola Coppola, Loredana Alessio, Mariantonietta Pisaturo, Margherita Macera, Evangelista Sagnelli, Department of Mental Health and Public Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Second University of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy
Mariantonietta Pisaturo, Division of Infectious Diseases, AORN Sant’Anna e San Sebastiano di Caserta, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Caterina Sagnelli, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Surgery “F. Magrassi e A. Lanzara”, Second University of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy
Rosa Zampino, Internal Medicine and Hepatology, Second University of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy
Author contributions: All the authors contributed to conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, and final approval of the version to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors of the manuscript declare that they have no commercial, personal, political, intellectual or religious interests in connection with this paper.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Nicola Coppola, MD, PhD, Department of Mental Health and Public Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Second University of Naples, Via L. Armanni 5, 80131 Naples, Italy. nicola.coppola@unina2.it
Telephone: +39-81-5666719 Fax: +39-81-5666013
Received: April 22, 2015
Peer-review started: April 23, 2015
First decision: August 31, 2015
Revised: November 4, 2015
Accepted: December 4, 2015
Article in press: December 8, 2015
Published online: December 28, 2015
Processing time: 249 Days and 12.6 Hours
Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most common cause of hepatitis worldwide, with nearly 350 million people chronically infected and 600000 deaths per year due to acute liver failure occurring during acute hepatitis or, more frequently, in HBV-related liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. Ongoing immigration from countries with a high HBV endemicity to those with a low HBV endemicity warrants particular attention to prevent the spread of HBV infection to the native population. This review article analyzes the epidemiology and virological and clinical characteristics of HBV infection in immigrant populations and in their host countries, and suggests prophylactic measures to prevent the spread of this infection. Among the immigrants from different geographical areas, those from South East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa show the highest prevalences of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers, in accordance with the high endemicity of the countries of origin. The molecular characteristics of HBV infection in immigrants reflect those of the geographical areas of origin: HBV genotype A and D predominate in immigrants from Eastern Europe, B and C in those from Asia and genotype E in those from Africa. The literature data on the clinical course and treatment of HBsAg-positive immigrants are scanty. The management of HBV infection in immigrant populations is difficult and requires expert personnel and dedicated structures for their assistance. The social services, voluntary operators and cultural mediators are essential to achieve optimized psychological and clinical intervention.

Keywords: Hepatitis B virus infection; Chronic hepatitis B; Immigration; Immigrants; Developing countries

Core tip: Extensive immigration from countries with a high hepatitis B virus (HBV) endemicity to those with a low HBV diffusion warrants particular attention to prevent the spread of HBV infection to the native population. This review article analyzes: (1) the prevalence of subjects with hepatitis B in screened immigrants; (2) the distribution of the HBV genotypes; (3) the cost effectiveness of screening immigrants for hepatitis B; and (4) the clinical and therapeutic approach.