Hepatitis B: Prevalence and occult infection in HIV-infected patients

Abstract

Introduction: HBV and HIV have identical transmission routes. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HBV in HIV patients and to detect the presence of occult HBV infection. Methods: All samples were tested for serology markers and using qPCR. Results: This study included 232 individuals, out of which 36.6% presented with HBV markers and 11.8% presented with HBsAg or HBV-DNA, including 3 patients that showed OBI. Conclusions: We observed a high prevalence of HBV among HIV patients. In addition the results suggest that OBI can occur in patients with serological profiles that are indicative of past infection. Therefore, the application of molecular tests may enable the identification of infections that are not evident solely based on serology.