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Transmission of hepatitis B virus results from exposure to infectious blood or body fluids containing blood. HBV is 50 to 100 times more infectious than human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) . [ 32 ] HBV can be transmitted through several routes of infection.
HBsAg under a transmission electron microscope: the protein self assembles into virus-like particles. HBsAg (also known as the Australia antigen) is the surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Its presence in blood indicates existing hepatitis B infection.
It allowed industrialized countries to reliably diagnose asymptomatic carriers of hepatitis B virus and the discovery provided healthcare professionals a way to screen blood for Hep B before administering blood transfusions. [69] [68] Today, hepatitis B virus infection is easily avoided by receiving one of the hepatitis B vaccines.
The general stages of seroconversion for hepatitis B, where the line of detectability indicates seropositivity. In immunology, seroconversion is the development of specific antibodies in the blood serum as a result of infection or immunization, including vaccination.
Therefore, the presence of IgM in the blood of the host is used to test for acute infection, whereas IgG indicates an infection sometime in the past. [8] Both types of antibodies are measured when tests for immunity are carried out. [9] Antibody testing has become widely available.
Hepatitis B infections result in 500,000 to 1,200,000 deaths per year worldwide due to the complications of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatitis B is endemic in a number of (mainly South-East Asian) countries, making cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma big killers.
Hepatitis D is a defective virus that requires hepatitis B to replicate and is only found with hepatitis B co-infection. [17] In adults, hepatitis B infection is most commonly self-limiting, with less than 5% progressing to chronic state, and 20 to 30% of those chronically infected developing cirrhosis or liver cancer. [31] Infection in infants ...
HBcAg (core antigen) is a hepatitis B viral protein. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] It is an indicator of active viral replication; this means the person infected with Hepatitis B can likely transmit the virus on to another person (i.e. the person is infectious).