Hepatitis Be Antibody (006635)

Differential diagnosis, staging, and prognosis of hepatitis B infection.

The appearance of anti-HBe in patients who have previously been HBeAg positive indicates a reduced risk of infectivity. Failure of appearance implies disease activity and probable chronicity but patients with HBeAb may have chronic hepatitis. Chronic HBsAg carriers can be positive for either HBeAg or anti-HBe, but are less infectious when anti-HBe is present. HBe can persist for years, but usually disappears earlier than anti-HBs or anti-HBc. Anti-HBe has not been found as the sole serologic marker for hepatitis B infection.

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