RESUMEN
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD] is an emerging problem in children and adolescents worldwide. This study was done to investigate the prevalence of NAFLD in children and adolescents as well as to determine the associated risk factors of fatty liver and to explore the ability of some obesity indices to predict and consequently be used as a screening method of fatty liver disease at certain cutoff points in schoolchildren. Patients and A cross-sectional, nested case-control study was carried out. Cases and controls were randomly selected from outpatient schoolchildren aged 6-18 years attending the radiology clinic at Sporting Health Insurance Paediatric Hospital in Alexandria. They were subjected to ultrasonic examination as well as complete anthropometric and laboratory measurements including fasting plasma glucose [FPG] level, fasting insulin, alanine aminotransferase [ALT] level, and lipid profile. Fatty liver was prevalent in schoolchildren [15.8%] and increased significantly with age [p = 0.004]. Positive family history of diabetes mellitus [DM], hypertension [HTN], obesity, and liver disease were all statistically significant risk factors for fatty liver. Waist circumference [WC], body mass index [BMI] and its Z-score were significantly sensitive predictors. BMI was considered the best predictor of paediatric NAFLD at a cutoff = 22.9. NAFLD was significantly associated with high triglycerides [TGs], low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL], homoeostatic model assessment [HOMA] percentile, and the number of metabolic syndrome [MS] components. Paediatric NAFLD is a substantial problem in schoolchildren and has a close relationship with obesity, dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance [IR], and consequently MS. BMI and WC can be used as useful predictors and screening tools for NAFLD in schoolchildren
RESUMEN
Background and aims: Occult hepatitis B virus infection [OBI, serum hepatitis B surface antigen negative but hepatitis B virus DNA positive] is an emerging problem in the safety of blood transfusion. The introduction of hepatitis B surface antigen in the screening panel for blood bank donors has substantially reduced, but not entirely eliminated, the risk of hepatitis B virus infection. It has been suggested that infection with hepatitis C virus may inhibit hepatitis B virus replication. Therefore, this study aimed at estimating the prevalence and risk factors for OBI among blood donors and determining its relationship with hepatitis C virus infection
Subjects and methods: Presence of hepatitis B virus DNA and hepatitis C virus RNA was investigated for among 508 hepatitis B surface antigen-negative blood donors in Alexandria, Egypt. Half of the donors were identified as hepatitis C virus antibody reactive
Results: OBI was detected in 21 donors [4.1%] from the studied population: eight were among hepatitis C virus antibody positive donors [3.2%], among whom seven [33.3%] had hepatitis C virus RNA in their serum, and 13 [5.1%] were among hepatitis C virus antibody negative donors, with no statistically significant difference. The only significant risk factor for OBI among the studied blood donors was visiting local barbers
Conclusion and recommendations: OBI is a considerable risk in blood banks, making screening for hepatitis B virus infection only on the basis of surface antigenemia insufficient