@john.tavis
Pls, I have another question.
If my viral load is undetectable and my test result shows negative, can I take vaccine to prevent recurrence?
Also, when I am able to push my viral load to negative, can it become positive again, and how long can it take to relapse?
Upon reaching a negative level, do I still need to continue taking the drugs?
Thanks for your anticipated response
Hi @Cleverpet,
The issue with vaccination when HBV DNA negative is the HBs level. If that has cleared, you might respond, but that depends on how well the immune system has reconstituted itself after HBV was cleared from the body. That is a very active area of research (and its beyond my expertise to give an informed opinion). I’m unaware of any clinical studies or case reports about vaccinating people after they’ve achieved what is called a functional cure (that is when a chronically infected person becomes HBV DNA and HBs negative after stopping treatment), but others might know something about this.
Yes, it is quite possible for the HBV DNA level to rebound after becoming negative. That is what happens the very large majority of time if the HBV DNA suppression is due to antiviral treatment and HBs has not been cleared too.
Yes, it is critical to keep taking your drugs even if the HBV DNA level is negative. The drugs are actively suppressing viral replication, but the virus is still in the liver and will resurge if the drug is removed. That almost always happens if the person is HBs positive. There are studies ongoing about how long a person needs to remain on treatment after becoming HBV DNA and HBs negative. Six months to a year of “consolidation” therapy after becoming DNA and HBs negative is fairly common in the studies, but there is no firm answer yet about when stopping treatment is safe.
John.
@john.tavis
I really appreciate your response to everyone paragraph of the questions, thanks for your time and God bless.