ReviewNature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology2026
Occult hepatitis B virus infection.
Review in Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
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
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) is defined as the presence of replication-competent HBV DNA in the liver or blood of individuals who are seronegative for hepatitis B surface antigen. The prevalence of OBI varies hugely according to the local endemicity of chronic HBV infection and risk of HBV exposure, ranging from 0.8% in the general population to >10% in those with hepatitis C virus or HIV infection, and to >40% in individuals with isolated positive antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc). Diagnosing OBI remains challenging due to extremely low and fluctuating levels of HBV DNA in individuals over time. Positive serological markers, such as anti-HBc, only arouse clinician suspicion, with no diagnostic confidence, but can be used to identify people with previous exposure to HBV and for subclassification of OBI, which should be combined with serum HBV DNA testing. The consequences of OBI include transmission of HBV during the transfusion of blood products or solid organ transplantation, reactivation of HBV in patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy, acceleration of disease progression in those with pre-existing chronic liver diseases, and an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma development. In this Review, we describe the core knowledge of OBI - epidemiology, diagnosis, mechanisms and virology, and clinical management - that clinicians should be aware of, and elaborate on challenges and future directions associated with OBI.
Identifiers
42736448What 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.