<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_1905-7415.1101.541_s_004_w2aab3b7b8b1b6b1aab1c17b1Aa"><h3>Background</h3><p>Hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection is a clinical entity refractory to treatment and has implications for disease outcome.</p></sec><sec id="j_1905-7415.1101.541_s_005_w2aab3b7b8b1b6b1aab1c17b2Aa"><h3>Objectives</h3><p>To determine the frequency of HBeAg-negative CHB in untreated hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive patients.</p></sec><sec id="j_1905-7415.1101.541_s_006_w2aab3b7b8b1b6b1aab1c17b3Aa"><h3>Methods</h3><p>We conducted this cross-sectional study of untreated HBsAg-positive patients from 3 cities in Pakistan for more than 6 months.</p></sec><sec id="j_1905-7415.1101.541_s_007_w2aab3b7b8b1b6b1aab1c17b4Aa"><h3>Results</h3><p>Of495 patients, 276 (47.7%) had detectable hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA (mean 5.3 ± 1.96 log<sub>10</sub> copies/mL), 81 (16.4%) were HBeAg positive and 414 (83.6%) were HBeAg negative. All 81 (100%) HBeAg-positive patients had detectable HBV DNA. Frequency of HBeAg-negative CHB infection was 155 (31.3%) among HBsAg-positive patients. One hundred and sixteen (74.8%) of the HBeAg-negative patients with CHB infection were in the age range of 15–35 years.</p></sec><sec id="j_1905-7415.1101.541_s_008_w2aab3b7b8b1b6b1aab1c17b5Aa"><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>HBeAg-negative patients constitute a considerable proportion of patients with CHB infection. HBsAg-positive patients, especially with younger age, should be thoroughly investigated for this entity to avoid the devastating long-term complications of this disease.</p></sec></abstract>

BackgroundHepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection is a clinical entity refractory to treatment and has implications for disease outcome.ObjectivesTo determine the frequency of HBeAg-negative CHB in untreated hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive patients.MethodsWe conducted this cross-sectional study of untreated HBsAg-positive patients from 3 cities in Pakistan for more than 6 months.ResultsOf495 patients, 276 (47.7%) had detectable hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA (mean 5.3 ± 1.96 log10 copies/mL), 81 (16.4%) were HBeAg positive and 414 (83.6%) were HBeAg negative. All 81 (100%) HBeAg-positive patients had detectable HBV DNA. Frequency of HBeAg-negative CHB infection was 155 (31.3%) among HBsAg-positive patients. One hundred and sixteen (74.8%) of the HBeAg-negative patients with CHB infection were in the age range of 15–35 years.ConclusionsHBeAg-negative patients constitute a considerable proportion of patients with CHB infection. HBsAg-positive patients, especially with younger age, should be thoroughly investigated for this entity to avoid the devastating long-term complications of this disease.

Frequency of hepatitis B envelope antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B virus infection in untreated patients from three cities in Pakistan

Pakistan Health Research Council (PHRC) Research Centre

Government Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar

Asian Biomedicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

BackgroundHepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection is a clinical entity refractory to treatment and has...

Frequency of hepatitis B envelope antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B virus infection in untreated patients from three cities in Pakistan

Article Category: Brief communication (Original)

Published Online: Aug 31, 2017

Page range: 73 - 79

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.1101.541

Keywords
Chronic hepatitis B, hepatitis, hepatitis B surface antigen, Pakistan

© 2017 Israr Ahmad, Kafeel Ahmad, Ijazul HaqueTaseer, Waqaruddin Ahmad, Javed Iqbal Farooqi, Obaid Ullah

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Frequency of hepatitis B envelope antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B virus infection in untreated patients from three cities in Pakistan

Article Category: Brief communication (Original)

Published Online: Aug 31, 2017

Page range: 73 - 79

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.1101.541

KeywordsChronic hepatitis B, hepatitis, hepatitis B surface antigen, Pakistan

© 2017 Israr Ahmad, Kafeel Ahmad, Ijazul HaqueTaseer, Waqaruddin Ahmad, Javed Iqbal Farooqi, Obaid Ullah

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Chronic hepatitis B, hepatitis, hepatitis B surface antigen, Pakistan