Community‐based epidemiology of hepatitis B virus infection in West Bengal, India: Prevalence of hepatitis B e antigen‐negative infection and associated viral variants

Abstract

This first general population-based epidemiological study of HBV infection from India suggests that HBV acquisition starts in early childhood and peaks in adulthood. Most infections in the community are e-negative and inactive. The point prevalence of PC stop codon and BCP mutants is low in this primarily inactive and asymptomatic HBV-infected population sample in eastern India.