BACKGROUND Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is characterized by negative hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and detectable hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA in the liver and/or serum, with or without hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc). Anti-HBc is the most sensitive marker of previous HBV. HBV reactivation in patients under immunosuppressive treatment is life-threatening, occurring in both overt...

UNLABELLED Previous studies have suggested that prior exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection may increase the risk of development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis C. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of previous or occult HBV infection in a cohort of hepatitis B surface antigen-negative patients with histologically advanced chronic he...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide public health problem. Nine HBV genotypes (A-I) have been already discovered. HBV genotypes are important both in the clinical manifestation of disease and treatment response. Moreover, HBV DNA without HBs (Hepatitis B surface)-antigenemia was detected in some patients with chronic hepatitis (occult hepatitis). There is little informat...

Occult HBV infection (OBI), defined by the presence of HBV DNA in absence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), is a significant concern in the HIV-infected population. Of 441 HIV+/HBsAg- patients analyzed, the overall prevalence of OBI was 6.3% (28/441). OBI was identified in 21 anti-HBc positives (17.8%), as well as among those who lacked any HBV-specific serological markers (2.2%). Compari...

Delayed clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen was previously reported in a 38 year old woman after high dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral blood stem cell rescue. Sixteen months later, this patient remained hepatitis B surface antigen negative, hepatitis B surface antibody positive, and serum hepatitis B DNA negative by polymerase chain reaction. Serial liver biopsies (one at hepat...

Occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) is a challenging clinical entity. It is defined as the presence of viral DNA in the liver or serum of subjects who test negative for the hepatitis B surface antigen. Molecular evidence of OBI consists of covalently closed circular DNA persisting in the nuclei of hepatocytes after infection. Immunocompetent individuals have a lower risk of complications t...

Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is considered the best marker for the diagnosis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Mutations of the s gene involving amino acid substitutions within the a determinant could affect the sensitivity of diagnostic tests. In the present study, HBsAg mutants were detected in 3 immunocompromised patients, previously found to be HBsAg negative and anti-HBs positiv...

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is commonly used for a wide range of diagnoses, by multiple pediatric subspecialists. We report two cases of hepatitis B screening results post IVIG infusion, where positive anti-Hepatitis B core antigen serology tests indicated possible occult hepatitis infection, leading to a delay in care. However, serial antibody testing showed results consistent with the p...

Background: Blood transfusion plays a great role in public health and the blood safety still has remained a main concern. HBV has been considered as one of the most prevalent blood borne infections. It is estimated that chronic HBV affects 350-400 million people worldwide. Comprehensive knowledge about HBV has high importance in Iran due to high number of blood dependent patients. Material ...