Do we have to rethink serologic markers used to diagnose hepatitis B infection?

The recent addition of testing volunteer blood donors for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) has raised questions not apparent when such testing is applied to hepatitis B (HB) infected patients. The review of published studies, and our own, demonstrates that it is difficult to evaluate false positive results. Some patients appear to lose antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) but not antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), thus raising the possibility of disease transmission. It is anticipated that additional investigation of individuals positive for anti-HBc only by response to hepatitis B vaccine permits clarification of their immune status and absence of infectivity.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. B. Schifman, S. L. Rivers, R. E. Sampliner, and J. E. Krammes Significance of Isolated Hepatitis B Core Antibody in Blood Donors Arch Intern Med, October 11, 1993; 153(19): 2261 - 2266. [Abstract] [PDF]