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Ron B. Schifman, MD; Richard E. Sampliner, MD
Tucson Veterans Administration Medical Center University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson

JAMA. 1988;260(5):637.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In Reply.—

In the majority of adults with acute hepatitis B infection, HBsAg and hepatitis B e antigen disappear after a short time, followed by seroconversion to anti-HBe, anti-HBc, and ultimately antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen. This pattern indicates a recovery phase. Conversely, chronic infection generally is marked by failure to develop antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen and persistance of HBsAg, anti-HBc, and either anti-HBe or hepatitis B e antigen.

Anti-HBc and anti-HBe, when present as the only serological markers of hepatitis B infection, can signify past infection, with recovery and loss of antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen; or as in the case described by Drs Howell and Barbara, occult chronic infection with loss of HBsAg. Therefore, testing for anti-HBe to determine the significance of an isolated anti-HBc result would not help differentiate between these two diagnostic possibilities.

Isolated low-titer anti-HBc also may represent a nonspecific false-positive . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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