occult hepatitis b virus infection in patients with hepatitis c liver disease chronic

occult HBV infection is defined by detection of HBV DNA in the serum or liver tissue of patients who test negative for HBsAg. The prevalence of occult HBV is higher in hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive patients than HCV negative patients and may have an impact on their clinical outcome. and HBV DNA, ranges widely in patients with hepatitis C.This may influence the treatment of hepatitis C and the severity of liver disease. Sensitive and specific real-time PCR techniques are available commercially and can detect more reliably low HBVDNA levelsTo our knowledge, few studies have documented the response rates to the current pegylated alpha interferon (peg-IFNa) and ribavirin therapy. Consequently, it is now unclear whether HBV DNA should be sought in the clinical management of patients with chronic hepatitis C.The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus infection using qualitative P.C.R in the serum of HBsAg negative patients with chronic hepatitis C. HBV DNA detection was assessed retrospectively on 25 sera of HCV positive/ HBsAg negative/HBc Ab positive patients during treatment. A 4 % (6/150) prevalence of occult hepatitis B was recorded in serum sample.