Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection combined with occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been associated with increased risk of hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of occult HBV infection among Egyptian chronic HCV patients, the genotype and occurrence of surface gene mutations of HBV and the impact of co-infection on early...

The article “efficacy of hepatitis B vaccine in those who lost hepatitis B surface antigen during follow-up” published recently in Hepatitis Monthly (1), described the efficacy of HBV vaccine in chronic HBV patients who had been found negative for HBsAg and HBV DNA in sera. The manuscript was highlighted by an Editorial in the same issue (2). The manuscript dealt with a group of chronic HBV pat...

BACKGROUND/AIMS We investigated the frequency of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive individuals and the effects of occult HBV infection on the severity of liver disease. METHODS Seventy-one hepatitis B virus surface-antigen (HBsAg)-negative patients were divided according to their HBV serological status into groups A (anti-HBc positive, anti-HBs ...

Literature review shows that hepatitis C infection may increase the risk of non-hodgkin lymphoma. Reactivation of hepatitis B infection has been reported in patients with hairy cell leukemia after chemotherapy and/or splenectomy. We present hepatitis B surface (HBs) antigenemia and concurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) seropositivity in a case of hairy cell leukemia. Key Words: Hairy cell leukemi...

hepatitis b surface antigen is the first genetically engineered vaccine licensed for human use. various strategies have been proposed to obtain a vaccine that would bypass the need for injection. in this study, a non-toxic portion of heat-stable enterotoxin of escherichia coli that is capable of adhering to epithelial cells was inserted at amino acid position 112 of hepatitis surface antigen. t...

BACKGROUND Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is characterized by the detection of HBV DNA in serum and/or in liver in the absence of detectable hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The reported prevalence of occult hepatitis B varies markedly among populations and according to the sensitivity of the HBV DNA assay. The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence of occult hepa...

BACKGROUND The occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is defined as the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in the sera or in the liver biopsy and the absence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) by serological test. OBJECTIVES The current study aimed to evaluate the occult HBV infection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and determine HBV genotyping among the patients with abnormal alanine...

conclusions hbv vaccination in infancy is effective at preventing chronic hbv infection but is less effective at preventing occult hbv infection. similar studies examining the efficacy of adult hbv vaccination in preventing occult hbv have not been performed. this case highlights the importance of carefully determining the hbv status of high-risk individuals, as vaccination history and the pres...

Background: Approximately 600,000 deaths occur every year as a result of the acute and chronic consequences of hepatitis B virus infection. Ten different hepatitis B virus genotypes have been identified with distinct geographical distributions. Different clinical outcomes, including the rate of mutations, development of hepatocellular carcinoma, chronicity, response to treatment, transplantatio...