Abstract
Introduction:_x0001_ Hepatitis B virus is a serious public health
problem worldwide and major cause of acute and chronic
hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The high
resistance of HBV to inactivation and its high concentration in
blood and other body fluids such as saliva, semen, vaginal
secretion, breast milk and tears accounts for its high
infectivity. It has been estimated that dental practitioners are
three to five times at a higher risk than the general population
through the exposure to the oral secretions and blood of
potentially infectious patients. Aims of the Study: The overall
aim of this study is to investigate the infectivity of saliva of
chronic HBV carriers through detection of HBV antigens and
their corresponding antibodies and HBV DNA. Materials and
Methods:_x0001_ Serum and saliva samples from 65 confirmed
chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers were examined for
the presence of HBV markers using enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction
(PCR)._x0001_ Results:_x0001_Out of the 65 chronic HBV carriers, 17(26%)
were seropositive for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg+) and
48(74%) were seronegative for HBeAg and seropositive for
antibody to HBeAg (HBeAg−/anti-HBe+). The detection rates
of saliva for HBsAg, anti-HBc, HBeAg and anti-HBe were
55%, 65%, 53% and 100%, respectively, to that of serum. The
detection rates of HBV DNA for serum and saliva were 90%
and 60%, respectively. Conclusions: Based on these results
we have arrived at the conclusion that saliva of these carriers
might be potentially infectious.
