Title
Study of occult hepatitis B virus infection among Indian patients with isolated hepatitis B core antibody
Authors
Akhilesh Tiwari, Nishat Khan*, Dharmendra Singh Rajput, Atul Shende & Manish Purohit
Affiliation
Department of Microbiology, M.G.M. Medical College, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author
Akhilesh Tiwari - E-mail: dr.akhilesh29@gmail.com
Nishat Khan - E-mail: drnishatgorie@yahoo.com
Dharmendra Singh Rajput - E-mail: drdsr22@gmail.com
Atul Shende - E-mail: dratulshende@yahoo.co.in
Manish Purohit - E-mail: manishpurohit75@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received September 1, 2026; Revised September 30, 2026; Accepted September 30, 2026, Published September 30, 2026
Abstract
Occult Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) is characterized by the presence of HBV DNA in individuals who are negative for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), making its detection challenging using routine serological methods. Therefore, it is of interest to determine the prevalence of OBI among Anti-HBc positive, HBsAg-negative patients with suspected viral hepatitis in a tertiary care hospital setting. Hence, a total of 362 HBsAg-negative patients from high-risk groups were included in the study. Among them, 102 (28.2%) were Anti-HBc positive, indicating prior exposure to HBV. Molecular analysis using PCR revealed that 9 out of 362 patients (2.48%) had detectable HBV DNA, confirming occult infection. Thus, early identification of OBI is crucial to prevent transmission and reduce long-term complications such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Keywords
Occult Hepatitis B Infection (OBI), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Anti-HBc, HBsAg Negative, HBV DNA, viral load, ELISA, PCR, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Co-infection, Isolated Anti-HBc, surrogate markers
Citation
Tiwari et al. Bioinformation 22(9): 5517-5521 (2026)
Edited by
Vini Mehta
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
