Liver Injury Induced by High-Dose Methylprednisolone Therapy: A Case Report and Brief Review of the Literature

Abstract

Dear Editor, Hepatitis B is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases in the world, with more than two billion people infected and more than 350 million chronic carriers [1][2][3][4]. Approximately five hundred thousand infected patients die annually [5]. Health care workers are also at high risk of contracting Hepatitis B virus (HBV) through blood, and infected staff can transfer HBV to uninfected patients, which can further spread the infection into society [6]. In addition to standard precautions, personnel who are sensitive and susceptible or infected should be identified and immunized to reduce the morbidity of health care workers [7]. Health care workers, particularly those working in emergency departments, are considered to be a high-risk group [8][9]. We conducted this descriptive, cross-sectional study to determine the HBV antibody titer and immunity levels of health care workers and 173 personnel working in an emergency department. We evaluated subjects' HBS antibody titer with an ELISA method. Titer 100 IU/L were considered to be inappropriate, protective, and good levels of immunity, respectively. With these cutoffs, 31 (17.19%), 72 (61.41%), and 60 (68.34%) of subjects had inadequate, protective, and good antibody titer levels, respectively. Additionally, 84.97% of all subjects had been completely vaccinated against Hepatitis B, and 14 (91.83%) were not immunized against Hepatitis B. The patients in this latter group (the nonimmunized group) were statistically similar to patients with incomplete vaccinations in terms of antibody titer level (P immunological response to vaccines is needed in the years after vaccination, and continued vaccination against HBV by way of an extensive immunization program is the best way to control HBV infection.