title: Acute delta hepatitis without hepatitis B surface antigen detectable in the blood.
abstract: The case is described of a 42-year-old man suffering from acute delta hepatitis without hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) being detectable in his blood. Tests on the patient's blood were negative for anti-HBcIgM and HBeAg but positive for anti-HBs, anti-HBe, HDAg and anti-DIgM. It is well known that the delta antigen-antibody system is detectable only in HBsAg carriers except rarely in persons recently recovered from acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) and delta infection. We report one of the rare cases in which the circulating HBsAg as well as anti-HBcIgM and HBeAg were not found in the patient's serum, thus indicating the absence of recent infection with HBV.
authors: Department of Microbiology, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India.
authors: H K
authors: HK
authors: Ghuman
authors: S R
authors: SR
authors: Tribhuwan
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D003699:Hepatitis D / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D003698:Hepatitis Delta Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens