ArticleGerms2015
Identification of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and viral antigens in healthcare workers who presented low to moderate levels of anti-HBs after HBV vaccination.
Article in Germs, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus infection in HBcAb-positive individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Review
- The Investigation of HBV Pre-S/S Gene Mutations in Occult HBV Infected Blood Donors with anti-HBs Positive.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2022Article
- Article
- The influence of anti-HBc status on the sustained virological response rate in HCV-infected patients treated with pegylated interferon alfa 2 and ribavirin.Clinical and experimental hepatology · 2016Article
- Update on occult hepatitis B virus infection.World journal of gastroenterology · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 1 institution in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWorldwide, healthcare workers (HCWs) show different levels of response to hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine. One of the factors associated with vaccine unresponsiveness may be the existence of current or past HBV infection. Regardless of the presence of HBsAg (overt infection), occult HBV infection (OBI, defined as presence of HBV DNA in the absence of HBsAg) might also account for some non- or hypo-response cases.
methodsSera from 120 HBsAg-negative HCWs with low and moderate levels of anti-HBs, <10 IU/mL (group I) and <100 IU/mL (group II) respectively, were selected and were examined for OBI by sensitive real-time PCR regardless of HBV serological profiles. Direct sequencing on surface genes was carried out in OBI-positive cases.
resultsFour (3.3%) were positive for OBI. All were negative for anti-HBc. Two of the positive cases had moderate levels of anti-HBs (>10 to <100 IU/mL). No significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of risk factors or serological data. No mutations were found in surface proteins of OBI cases.
conclusionOBI in these subjects might be due to other factors rather than presence of "a" determinant mutations. Healthcare workers with inadequate to moderate levels of anti-HBs (<100 IU/mL) following vaccination, regardless of their serological profile for HBV, should be tested for the presence of HBV DNA by sensitive molecular tests. Anti-HBc is not a reliable marker for suspicion of OBI, especially in high-risk group individuals.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.