Chronic hepatitis e negative. Reactivation

Just diagnosed or new to the community
1

Hello to all Forum members,

My name is Andrea. I am 47 years old and was diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B at 29. Throughout all these years, I have had an undetectable viral load, and in the FibroScan I had in 2020, a score of 5.2.

In January and February of this year, 2024, I had very severe sinusitis which ended in surgery. I was treated with corticosteroids, both oral and intravenous, without any prophylaxis.

In my April 2024 results, my viral load rose to 550. In October, it was 3140. In November, I had a FibroScan and obtained a score of 7.6.

This year has been very stressful for me. My father is constantly being admitted to the intensive care unit due to terminal COPD.

I would like to know if I could be facing a reactivation and am no longer an inactive carrier, as I had been told until this year, and if this could be reversible and if a good lifestyle could lower my viral load and liver stiffness.

I would also like to know if this change could be related to my age. Furthermore, until October, I consumed alcohol socially. Not in high quantities, but socially. Could my fibrosis also be related to alcohol?

Thank you very much for all your help
I am quite overwhelmed

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Dear @Andy,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for sharing your story.

The raised fibroscan score may be either increased fibrosis or increased liver inflammation. This can indeed be exacerbated by alcohol consumption.

Indeed, age, corticosteroids and stress are all factors that can cause a person’s HBV infection to become active. As mentioned in other parts of this forum, diet and lifestyle alone are unable to consistently lower viral loads - the most potent way to reduce viral loads and reduce inflammation is with antiviral therapy (ETV, TDF, or TAF).

Hope this helps,
Thomas

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