Abstract

Though typically being a hepatotrophic virus (1), HBV also binds to peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and infects hematopoietic cells. HBV infection has been associated with an increased risk for hematologic malignancies. (2,3) Occult HBV DNA persists in the lymphoid cells of the individual (4) and it is difficult to detect persistence of occult hepatitis B virus infection by routine HBV surface antigen testing. Anti-HBc may be used as a surrogate marker for detection of OBI. Although it may not be as sensitive as molecular methods, it has been shown to be an useful screening tool for detection of occult hepatitis B virus infection (5). We enrolled 70 leukemia patients for the study and tested them for anti HBc. We later analysed only 69 of these patients for OBI as 1 patient was HBsAg positive (overt HBV infection) and hence excluded from the study. We found 4.35% of the patients to be anti HBc positive indicating occult HBV infection.

Description