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Aim: With the current coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) pandemic and high endemic levels of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection worldwide, it is urgent to investigate liver function changes of COVID‐19 patients with chronic HBV infection, and how severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection in turn affects the course of chronic HBV infection. Method: We undertook a retrospective study based on 347 COVID‐19 patients (21 vs. 326 with vs. without chronic HBV infection). With the propensity score matching (PSM) method, we yielded 20 and 51 matched patients for the HBV group and the non‐HBV group, respectively. Results: At the end of follow‐up, all of these 71 patients achieved SARS‐CoV‐2 clearance (P = 0.1). During the follow‐up, 30% versus 31.4% in the HBV group versus non‐HBV group progressed to severe COVID‐19 (P = 0.97). After PSM, the longitudinal changes of median values for liver biochemistries were not significantly different between the two groups. In the HBV group versus non‐HBV group, 35% (7/20) versus 37.25% (19/51) (P = 0.86) had abnormal alanine aminotransferase at least once during hospitalization, 30% (6/20) versus 31.37% (16/51) had abnormal aspartate aminotransferase (P = 0.91), 40% (8/20) versus 37.25% (19/51) had abnormal γ‐glutamyltransferase (P = 0.83), and 45% (9/20) versus 39.22% (20/51) had abnormal total bilirubin levels (P = 0.91). Moreover, three patients in the HBV group had hepatitis B reactivation. Conclusions: Liver dysfunction presented in COVID‐19 patients with/without chronic HBV. Moreover, those COVID‐19 patients co‐infected with chronic HBV could have a risk of hepatitis B reactivation. It is necessary to monitor liver function of COVID‐19 patients, as well as HBV‐DNA levels for those co‐infected with HBV during the whole disease course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) coinfects with hepatitis B virus (HBV) causing the most severe form of viral hepatitis. However, its exact global disease burden remains largely obscure. We aim to establish the global epidemiology, infection mode-stratified disease progression, and clinical outcome of HDV infection.Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis with a random-effects model and performed data synthesis.Results: The pooled prevalence of HDV is 0.80% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63-1.00) among the general population and 13.02% (95% CI, 11.96-14.11) among HBV carriers, corresponding to 48-60 million infections globally. Among HBV patients with fulminant hepatitis, cirrhosis, or hepatocellular carcinoma, HDV prevalence is 26.75% (95% CI, 19.84-34.29), 25.77% (95% CI, 20.62-31.27), and 19.80% (95% CI, 10.97-30.45), respectively. The odds ratio (OR) of HDV infection among HBV patients with chronic liver disease compared with asymptomatic controls is 4.55 (95% CI, 3.65-5.67). Hepatitis delta virus-coinfected patients are more likely to develop cirrhosis than HBV-monoinfected patients with OR of 3.84 (95% CI, 1.79-8.24). Overall, HDV infection progresses to cirrhosis within 5 years and to hepatocellular carcinoma within 10 years, on average.Conclusions: Findings suggest that HDV poses a heavy global burden with rapid progression to severe liver diseases, urging effective strategies for screening, prevention, and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]