Wild‐type and ‘a’ epitope variants in chronic hepatitis B virus carriers positive for hepatitis B surface antigen and antibody

Abstract

Eight of the nine (89%) patients positive for both HBsAg and anti-HBs harbored an 'a' epitope variant. The lower ALT levels seen in patients who had either pure 'a' epitope variant or a mixture of wild type and mutants suggest that a closer monitoring of these 'a' epitope variants should be required, as patients carrying these infectious viral strains may remain asymptomatic.