Delta virus infection and severe hepatitis [reported epidemics in Sind]

Large outbreaks of acute hepatitis are unusual in the developing world. Recently large epidemics have been reported in various parts of Asia and have been attributed to hepatitis non A-non B, presumably spread through water. We report here three epidemics of severe hepatitis that resulted from spread of delta agent in three different places in Sind province. The report implicates the delta agent as a possible cause of epidemic hepatitis and sheds further light on the natural course of delta virus infection