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The absence of hepatitis B virus DNA in hepatitis B e antigen positive sera from chronic hepatitis B surface antigen carriers in China
Author(s) -
Scott Janet S.,
Pan PeiEn,
Pace Raymond A.,
Sloots Theo P.,
Cooksley W. Graham
Publication year - 1990
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.1890300205
Subject(s) - virology , hepatitis b virus , hepatitis b virus dna polymerase , hepatitis b , antigen , hepatitis , hepadnaviridae , virus , medicine , immunology , biology
Sera from 20 Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B were examined for hepatitis B e antigen and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA. There was considerable discordance with HBV DNA not being detectable in 10 out of 13 (77%) patients who were hepatitis B e antigen positive. Further testing for anti‐HBe and HBV‐DNA polymerase activity confirmed the results. Possible reasons for this discordance are discussed but neither hepatitis D (delta) infection nor the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) could be implicated.