Although occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections in individuals without detectable hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) may occur and have been reported to be common in patients with chronic hepatitis C, the clinical relevance remains controversial. We searched for serum HBV DNA in 210 HBsAg-negative patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver disease (110 patients with chronic hepatit...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the HBV surface (S) gene variants circulating in the South African population after nearly two decades of universal hepatitis B vaccination. STUDY DESIGN From a previous serosurvey, 201 serum samples with serological evidence of exposure to HBV were identified and t...

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...

The prevalence of occult Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in children was considerably varied from 0.1-64% in different reports. In this study we aimed to investigate the prevalence of occult HBV infection among the children born to mothers with positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in Jiangsu, China. Serum samples were collected from 210 children of 207 mothers with positive HBsAg. HBV...

OBJECTIVES Occult (surface antigen-negative/DNA-positive) hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is common in areas of the world where HBV is endemic. The main objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of occult HBV infection in HIV-infected African migrants to the UK and to determine factors associated with occult coinfection. METHODS This anonymized point-prevalence study identif...

Background: The risk of infection by transfusion-transmitted viruses has been reduced remarkably. However, a zero-risk blood supply is still desirable. The screening for antibody to HBc (anti-HBc) has been shown as an alternative test for the detection of HBV infection. Objective: The main aim of this study was to evaluate HBV infection markers and the potential value of anti-HBc testing of blo...

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...

Molecular mechanisms related to occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, particularly those based on genotype C infection, have rarely been determined thus far in the ongoing efforts to determine infection mechanisms. Therefore, we aim to elucidate the mutation patterns in the surface open reading frame (S ORF) underlying occult infections of HBV genotype C in the present study. Nested PCRs we...

BACKGROUND Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) is frequently reported in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. An association between OBI and more liver damage, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and reduced response to interferon therapy in patients with HCV infection is suggested. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of occult HBV,...