{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,3]],"date-time":"2025-06-03T04:01:40Z","timestamp":1748923300850,"version":"3.41.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Journal of Infection in Developing Countries","issue":"05","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,31]],"date-time":"2025-05-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748649600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J Infect Dev Ctries"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: Hepatitis B (HBV) and (HCV) virus infections represent a nosocomial risk in hemodialysis (HD) patients. We aimed to evaluate the risk among adult HD patients in southern Bulgaria.\nMethodology: A prospective cohort study included 225 patients from three HD centers between January 2020 and June 2022. HBV and HCV infections were characterized by serological and virological markers determined through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and polymerase chain reaction.\nResults: HBV infection was detected in 13 patients and HCV in 15. Ten of the hepatitis patients died of non-liver-related complications. Sustained virological response (SVR) was confirmed in five HCV-infected patients previously cured with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). Five patients were viremic. Three of them achieved SVR after DAAs, and two refused treatments. A decrease in HCV viremia prevalence (2.22% versus 0.89%) was recorded (p = 0.15). Virological suppression was confirmed in four HBV-infected patients treated with nucleos(t)ide analogs. \u0422wo patients were not eligible for antivirals. Decreased HBV viremia prevalence (2.7% versus 0.89%) was recorded (p = 0.15). Among HBV surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative patients, HBV vaccination coverage was 62.74% (133\/212) and higher in 2 HD centers (128\/137; 93.43%). Nevertheless, one-third of participants (34\/112; 30.36%) were susceptible to HBV. Twenty-four vaccinees (24\/112; 21.43%) had acquired natural immunity but remained at risk of reactivation in case of immunosuppression. HBV DNA was detected in eight HBsAg-negative patients, resulting in a prevalence of 7.14% (8\/112) for occult HBV infection.\nConclusions: The study reveals a downward trend in HBV and HCV viremia prevalence among HD patients. To further reduce the risk of nosocomial transmission, vaccination for hepatitis B requires updating.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3855\/jidc.20035","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]],"date-time":"2025-06-02T07:38:42Z","timestamp":1748849922000},"page":"782-791","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Decreased risk of nosocomial transmission of hepatitis B and C viruses among hemodialysis patients in Southern Bulgaria"],"prefix":"10.3855","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Radka T","family":"Komitova","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3462-866X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elitsa N","family":"Golkocheva-Markova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ani K","family":"Kevorkyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8008-2821","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lubomira","family":"Nikolaeva-Glomb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vanya R","family":"Rangelova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tanya I","family":"Kostadinova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tsvetelina","family":"Chardakova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mariya V","family":"Atanasova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6334-3447","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tencho D","family":"Tenev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"George S","family":"Kiprin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Simon K","family":"Sariyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6417-5681","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ralitsa D","family":"Raycheva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Valeri D","family":"Tzekov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"2222","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,31]]},"container-title":["The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/download\/20035\/3660","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/download\/20035\/3660","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]],"date-time":"2025-06-02T07:38:43Z","timestamp":1748849923000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.jidc.org\/index.php\/journal\/article\/view\/20035"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,31]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"05","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,31]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3855\/jidc.20035","relation":{},"ISSN":["1972-2680"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1972-2680","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,31]]}}}