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e‐antigen and age in acute and chronic type B hepatitis
Author(s) -
Villarejos Victor M.,
Visona Kirsten Anderson,
Eduarte A. Carlos E.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.1890020206
Subject(s) - medicine , gastroenterology , bilirubin , transaminase , hepatitis , incubation period , antigen , persistence (discontinuity) , alanine transaminase , immunology , incubation , enzyme , chemistry , biochemistry , geotechnical engineering , engineering
The influence of e‐antigen upon the course and outcome of acute type B hepatitis was studied in a series of 202 patients. Of these, 54 (27%) had e‐Ag, detected in the serum at the same time as HB s Ag during the incubation period or at onset. In 39 patients (73%) the e‐Ag disappeared within eight weeks after onset, regularly followed by clearance of HB s Ag approximately four weeks later; anti‐HB s was detected shortly thereafter in 34 cases. In 15 (28%) of e‐Ag‐positive and in 4 (3%) of e‐Ag‐negative patients, HB s Ag persisted for one year or longer; chronic hepatitis developed in 13 of these cases, 12 of which were e‐Ag‐positive. Among e‐Ag‐positives HB s Ag persisted only in those cases in which the e‐Ag also persisted; all these were persons under 15 years of age. Transaminase and bilirubin values were equally high in e‐Ag‐positive and e‐Ag‐negative patients with resolving hepatitis, but were low from the start in those who later developed chronic liver conditions, irrespective of the presence or absence of e‐Ag. It is concluded that in e‐Ag‐positive acute type B hepatitis patients the disappearance of this antigen from the serum is a good prognostic sign, whereas its persistence beyond eight weeks, especially in young children with low transaminase and bilirubin response, signals evolution towards chronicity.