Transmission of a homogenous hepatitis B virus population of A1896-containing strains leading to mild resolving acute hepatitis and seroconversion to hepatitis B e antigen antibodies in an adult
✍ Scribed by M J Mphahlele; A G Shattock; W Boner; J Quinn; P A McCormick; W F Carman
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 145 KB
- Volume
- 26
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0270-9139
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✦ Synopsis
The pre-core variant, A1896, which switches off hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) production, is common in hepatitis B e antigen antibody (anti-HBe)-positive chronic hepatitis patients. It has been observed in occasional case reports of acute hepatitis. However, transmission in the absence of HBeAg-producing strains, leading to acute nonfulminant hepatitis and clearance in adults, has not been reported. Here, we show that this event can occur, further confirming that A1896 strains are "wild-type" and can lead to all the same outcomes as G1896 strains. This is in keeping with phylogenetic evidence that A1896 is transmitted independently on a large scale in the population and explains anti-HBe- positive persons who have not had an HBeAg-positive phase documented.