BACKGROUND Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative but hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA-positive infection-known as occult hepatitis B infection (OBI)-occurs in 1% to >15% of HIV-positive individuals in the United States and South Africa, respectively. However, there are no data on OBI from Botswana, a country known to be hyperendemic for chronic HBV infection and to have a significant HIV burd...

To evaluate the possibility of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in alcoholics carriers of "anti-HBc alone", and to verify the behavior of this serological pattern after a single dose of hepatitis B vaccine, 18 alcoholics who had this serological profile were evaluated by the polymerase chain reaction method, and 17 of them were vaccined. All were negative for HBV DNA. Nine (52.9%) of th...

BACKGROUND In surface antigen of hepatitis B virus (HBsAg)-positive carrier for anticancer treatment of malignant lymphoma, it is well recognized that reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) occasionally occurs. However, there have been only a few studies of HBV reactivation in serum HBsAg-negative and hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAb)-positive occult HBV carriers. We looked at both retrospectiv...

BACKGROUND Occult infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a type of chronic HBV infection that is characterized by the absence of a detectable hepatitis B surface antigen in the blood and by very low levels of HBV DNA in the blood and liver. The mechanisms leading to occult HBV infection remain poorly understood but include possible genetic mutations and deletions. Recently, it has been shown...

Diagnosis of hepatitis B is routinely based on of serological assay of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is generally defined as the detection of HBV -DNA in the serum or tissues of subjects who have negative test for HBsAg. Transmission of HBV infection has been documented from HBsAg negative, anti-HBc positive blood and organ donors. The aim of this...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) poses a challenge to the safety of blood donation. The prevalence of OBI is not well documented in Indonesia, although this information in such an endemic country is needed. This study was aimed to evaluate the prevalence of occult hepatitis B in blood donors from two cities of Indonesia, and to study the genetic variation and its eff...