Observational studyBMC infectious diseases2026
The risk of hepatitis B virus reactivation in COVID-19 patients treated with corticosteroids: a retrospective observational cohort study.
Observational study in BMC infectious diseases, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07154212 (Managing the Risk of Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation in COVID-19 Patients Treated With Corticosteroids), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
Managing the Risk of Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation in COVID-19 Patients Treated With Corticosteroids
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSystemic corticosteroids, recommended for adult patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who require supplemental oxygen, may carry an increased risk of reactivating latent infections such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
methodsThis retrospective observational cohort study of prospectively collected clinical data evaluated HBV screening frequency and examined the prevalence and reactivation of HBV among hospitalised adults treated with systemic corticosteroids for COVID-19 at a tertiary care hospital in Slovenia.
resultsAnti-HBc screening was conducted in 1,793/2,134 (84%) hospitalised patients receiving corticosteroids for COVID-19 (median age 70 years [IQR 59‒79 years]; 1,082 [60.3%] were male). Among the 1,793 screened patients, 157 (8.8%) were anti-HBc positive, and 5 (0.3%) of them also HBsAg positive. All five HBsAg-positive patients were aviremic. HBV infection was previously known in three of these patients (two on long-term tenofovir treatment) and identified de novo in two. Entecavir was initiated for one patient. Throughout the hospitalisations and 12-month follow-up periods, no cases of HBV viral rebound were observed in any of the HBsAg positive patients; one of the treated patients succumbed to COVID-19 pneumonia. No HBV reactivation or unexplained hepatopathy occurred in the 152 anti-HBc positive/HBsAg negative patients, none of whom were given antiviral prophylaxis.
conclusionsCorticosteroids for COVID-19 did not appear to be a significant risk factor for HBV reactivation in cases of occult hepatitis B. Universal antiviral prophylaxis in HBsAg negative/anti HBc positive individuals may not be warranted with short courses of corticosteroids for COVID-19 in the absence of other risk factors for HBV reactivation.
trial registrationRetrospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT07154212, September 2, 2025.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.