Background and Objectives: Occult hepatitis B virus infection is defined as the presence hepatitis Bvirus DNA (HBV DNA) in the serum or tissues of persons who have negative test for hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg). It is believed that transmission of hepatitis B infection from blood and organ donations negativefor HBsAg is due to HBV occult infection. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of occulthepatitis B infection and the level of viremia among these individuals with occult infection.Methods: Data on hepatitis B profile, HBV-DNA titer and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels of 398subjects enlisted for donor nephrectomy from June 2006 to June 2008 at the National Kidney and TransplantInstitute (NKTI) were reviewed.Results: One hundred twenty five of the 398 subjects (31.4%) included in the study were positivefor anti-HBc; 12/125 (9.6%) has detectable serum HBV DNA levels. Antibody to hepatitis surface antigen (anti-HBs) was detected in 8/12 (66.7%) of the HBV-DNA positives. ALT levels in seven of the subjects (58.3%)with occult hepatitis B were normal.Conclusion: There is high prevalence rate (9.6%) of occult hepatitis B infection among kidney donors atthe NKTI. Patients with occult hepatitis B infection have low viremia (
Anti-hbc ; Hbsag ; Hepatitis B Virus ; Prevalence

Background: Previous studies showed that B hepatitis prevalence in Vietnam was very high, and the rate of mother-to-child transmission ranged from 44.7% to 45.2%. And nearly 90% of infected babies will become chronic carriers in later life. Objectives: To determine the rates of the HBeAg, DNA-HBV markers and capacity of mother-to-child transmission among the positive-HBsAg pregnant women in Hanoi. Subjects and method: The cross-sectional study was carried out on 163 positive-HBsAg pregnant women admitted to the Hanoi Obstetrical Hospital from 6/2005 to 3/2007. Blood samples were collected from both mothers and neonates immediately after birth for analysis of HBeAg and DNA-HBV markers. Results:66/163 (40.5%) mothers had HBeAg marker. Among 67 positive-HBsAg pregnancies, 38 women (56.7%) had DNA-HBV marker. The rate of mother-to-child transmission of positive-HBsAg mothers was 55.2%. 96.3% of mothers with HBsAg(+)/HBeAg(+) transmitted HBV to their babies. The risk of HBsAg(+) increased 68.6 times in babies of mothers with HBsAg(+)/HBeAg(+) versus babies of mothers with HBsAg(+) alone. Among babies of mothers with DNA(+), 89.5% had HBsAg(+). The risk of HBsAg(+) in babies of mothers with DNA(+) was 73.7 times higher than that in babies of mothers with DNA(-). Conclusion: Babies that were born from HBsAg(+)/HBeAg(+) mothers had high risk of becoming chronic carriers.
HBeAg marker ; DNA-HBV marker ; mother-to-child transmission ; positive HBsAg pregnant women