I agree if HBV DNA is still detectable at 174 IU/mL (2.2 log) we do not recommend stopping if the treatment indication was due to active hepatitis/liver disease (we do stop in some patients who were only treated in pregnancy to reduce the risk of mother-to-baby transmission or during short-term immunosuppressive therapy). (There may be some other reason that we are not aware). Even in patients that have undetectable HBV DNA (<20 IU/mL) it is important that you have close monitoring of ALT and HBV DNA. An additional useful test if available is quantitive HBsAg, if <100 IU/mL, there are studies showing lower risk of relapse after stopping treatment.
1 Like
Good Morning.
I’m new here. I’m 27 years old male.
On 9th September 2023 i was diagnosed with hep b after a random blood donation.
I did hep b e antigen test and it was negative. HBV DNA was 729 iu/ml and core antibodies were positive.
I did liver function tests and they were normal.
I re-did all the tests in November and attached herewith are the results.
Is it an acute infection?
Should i begin treatment?
Hi @ Kenyan,
Sorry for the late response. First your results show a normal ALT/AST and a very low viral load. Which is all good. Being HBcAb positive indicates either a current or past infection.
But your HBeAg is negative, meaning you have a very low to no amount of virus in your system making you less infectious. You don’t have a result for HBsAg. If it is acute you should be testing HBeAg positive and HBsAg positive for a few weeks when you are still infected. There are people with chronic infection whose HBeAg is negative. You have a positive HBV DNA, HbeAg negative and a positive HBcAb which makes me lean towards a chronic infection. But to be conclusive, you will need a HBsAg, HBsAb, and IgM anti-HBc test. If it turns out to be chronic and you still testing negative for HBeAg, then you will need to consult with your provider about the appropriate steps forward.
If it is an acute infection, you should test negative for both HbsAg and HBV DNA after 15 weeks after appearance of symptoms. I am not sure how long you have been dealing with this.
I hope this is helpful and I do stand corrected by others here as these tests could be a bit complicated when explaining. Best, Bansah1.
1 Like
Thank you so much for taking your time.
My HBsag is positive. Ive never felt any symptoms. I found out that i have hep b in September 2023 after going for a random blood donation.
1 Like
Hi guys,
Thank you for the wonderful work you are doing here.
I’ve done a lot of reading on chronic Hepatitis B e antigen negative patients & inactive carriers who are also chronic hep b e antigen negative.
Are they one & the same?
My understanding is that Inactive carrier’s have low to undetectable viral loads while chronic hep b e antigen carrier’s have high viral loads despite the e antigen being negative.
Is this the case? Am i correct?
Please advise.
Hi @Kenyan,
Yes, it can be confusing, as the naming has changed a bit, so there are now multiple terms for the same thing.
The two phases you are referring to is now called HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis (or HBeAg-negative active carrier), or HBeAg-negative chronic infection (or HBeAg-negative inactive carrier).
Activity refers to how much liver inflammation there is. If it is persistently high, then it is an active infection. If it is persistently normal, then it is an inactive infection.
Inactive infections are generally linked to low HBV DNA levels (<2000), but the main differing point is liver inflammation.
Hope this helps,
Thomas
Thank you so much.
This forum is a life saver. At least we get the answers to our questions.
1 Like
Hi @Olacable,
Thanks for sending your test over. The hepatitis B test results are showing that you do not have viral replication going on (HBeAb positive), HBsAb negative means you do not have antibody or protection against hepatitis B virus. HBcIgM negative results indicates that there is no evidence of recent infection. There is no results for HBsAg? You do have a viral load of 280. It’s hard to say what is going on without the surface antigen(HBsAg) test which will indicate whether you have the infection or you don’t. Having a viral load of 280 which is low makes me lean more towards you possibly having HBsAg positive. But only the test can confirm this. What did your provider say to you?
Thanks, Bansah1
1 Like
Thanks, I really appreciate
I want to get my liver Funtion Test and CT scan done before meeting my doctor
Dear all, I hope I am posting correctly, I am new in the forum. First of all thank you very much for creating and managing this forum, I am finding so many helpful information and it is such an encouraging community!
My question concern the lab result of my mother, she made the tests after his brother got tested positive with chronic hepatitis b and liver damage:
HBsAg negative
HBc Ab tot: positive
HBs Ab: 21
HBe negative
HBe Ab: positive
Anti HBc IgM negative
If I got it correctly it means that she was exposed to the virus but she could get read of it/ it is not replicating and she has some immunity. Is that correct? What confuses me are the HBe and anti-HBe results: does it mean that she might still have the virus?
Should she follow up on those results? Should my brothers and I also get tested?
Thank you very much for your help
Hi @Claudi,
Welcome to the community. Based on the results you shared, your mother does not have hepatitis B currently (HBsAg negative). She might have been exposed in the past but she has antibodies to protect her. Her HBsAb of 21 is considered high and protective.
If you and your brothers are not vaccinated already, then I will encourage that you all get tested and vaccinated.
I hope this helps. Best, Bansah1
1 Like
Dear @Bansah1 thank you so much for your prompt and kind reply, it relieves me greatly. My brother and I were vaccinated, but not as babies, so it is probably better to get checked as you suggested.
Do you or anyone else in the community can commento on the HBe/HBeAb results? Are they useful as diagnostic/prognostic only if HBsAg is positive? What does it mean HBe negative but HBeAb positive?
Thank you very much again for your help and patience. Claudi
Hi @Claudi,
HBeAb positive means there is no viral replication occurring. My guess is HBeAg is negative (HBe negative). Which will mean there is low to no virus in the blood. Since she is HBsAg negative and has antibodies, my take will be that she has no virus in her blood. Anti HBc IgM negative means she does not have an acute infection. These are all good. There are 3 test mostly used in diagnosis: HBsAg, HBsAb, and HBcAb. The first if positive indicates that the person is infected but hers is negative. HBsAb if positive indicates immunity or protection, hers was measured to be at 21 which is fantastic and shows she is protected. HBcAb positive indicates a past or current infection. Hers being positive, and based on HBsAG and HBsAb results strongly indicates a past exposure. If she is in doubt, then she can do a HBV DNA/Viral load test. This test measure how much viral particles are in one’s blood at a giving time.
If you or mom have any further questions, try having a conversation with her provider to get answers specific to her condition. Best, Bansah1.
1 Like
You are welcome, and I am glad to help. Keep us posted when you and your siblings get your test done. Thanks, Bansah1.
2 Likes
Hi @Claudi,
Just to clarify a bit, when clearing a HBV infection, the body’s immune system is activated and a part of that activation is the conversion from HBeAg-positve to anti-HBe Ab-positive. People are expected to be anti-HBe Ab-positive when clearing an infection as your mother’s results indicate.
Cheers,
Thomas
Dear @ThomasTu ,
Thank you very much for your reply, this helps me a lot. I was confused because I found tables stating different outcomes but the same indication for the anti-HBe Ab, but your explanation clears my doubt. Thanks again
Cheers
Claudia
1 Like
Hello @ThomasTu
Hope you are doing well. I recently got my checkup done after 6 months.
My results till now were
Nov 2022- HBV dna 16500iu ALT 21
Feb 2023- HBV Dna 5052iu ALT 19
May 2023- HBV Dna 3750iu ALT 21
Dec 2023- HBV dna 320iu ALT 48, AST 38
DNA reduction from 3750 to 320 good or not statistically significant?
I was also diagnosed with mild fatty liver Grade 1. I need some guidance on some questions
Can fatty liver grade 1 be reversed? Also is my ALT and AST up because of fatty liver?
Please advise
@ThomasTu @john.tavis @availlant