Skip to content
Epomedicine

Mnemonics, Simplified Concepts & Thoughts

Epomedicine

Mnemonics, Simplified Concepts & Thoughts

hepatitis b serology

Interpreting Hepatitis B Serology in 5 Easy steps

Epomedicine, Feb 3, 2017

Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)

  • Appears during incubation period (1-6 months), 2-7 weeks prior to symptoms.
  • Peaks when the patient is most ill.
  • Becomes undetectable in 3-6 months.
  • Indicates infection – recent or chronic.

Hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs or HBsAb)

  • Arises once the acute disease has resolved.
  • Sometimes, not detectable unless until weeks or months after HBsAg has disappeared. This gap is called “window” period.
  • Indicates, immunity (by vaccination or infection).

Hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc or HBcAb)

  • Anti-HBc IgM and elevated serum transaminases also appear shortly before the symptom onset.
  • Over the next few months, anti-HBc IgM is replaced with an IgG component.
  • IgM = Recent (Acute) infection
  • IgG = Chronic infection

Hepatitis B e-antigen (HBeAg)

  • Shortly after HBsAg appears, HBeAg and HBV DNA can be detected in the serum and are markers of the acute viral replication.
  • Predictor of infectivity.

Hepatitis B e-antibody (anti-HBe or HBeAb)

  • Anti-HBe appears shortly after HBeAg vanishes and indicates subsiding viral activity.
  • Predictor of low infectivity.
hepatitis b serology
Acute Hepatitis B infection – serologic course

 

 

chronic hepatitis b infection - serologic course
chronic hepatitis b infection – serologic course
  HBsAg Anti-HBs Anti-HBc HBeAg Anti-HBe
Never infected (susceptible) – – – – –
Incubation period + (1st to appear) – IgM (shortly before symptom onset) + –
Prodrome, Acute disease + – IgM + +/-
Window period – – IgM +/- +/-
Convalescence (Recovery) – + IgG – +/-
Chronic active hepatitis B + – IgG + –
Chronic non-active hepatitis B + – IgG – +
Immune due to Vaccination – + – – –
Immune due to Natural infection – + IgG – +/-
False positive or infection in remote past – – IgG – –
2 shares
  • Facebook2
  • Twitter
PGMEE, MRCS, USMLE, MBBS, MD/MS Gastrointestinal systemImmunologyMicrobiology

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

PGMEE, MRCS, USMLE, MBBS, MD/MS

Meniscal Tears on MRI

Apr 24, 2025Apr 24, 2025

Meniscal tears are best seen on T1-weighted, gradient-echo and proton-density images. The menisci are low intensity on all sequences. Morphologies Meniscal tear morphology Description MRI appearance Horizontal Separates meniscus into superior (femoral) & inferior (tibial) fragments Primarily horizontal signal on sagittal images Vertical radial Splits central margin of meniscus Vertical…

Read More
PGMEE, MRCS, USMLE, MBBS, MD/MS theracys bcg

BCG for Urinary Bladder Cancer and BCG sepsis

Dec 30, 2015

The objectives of intravesical therapy in bladder cancer is to: avoid post-TURB (Transurethral resection of bladder) implantation of tumor cells eradicate residual disease prevent tumor recurrence delay or reduce tumor progression Indications of BCG in bladder cancer: Intravesical treatment and prophylaxis of bladder CIS Prophylaxis of primary or recurrent stage Ta and/or…

Read More
PGMEE, MRCS, USMLE, MBBS, MD/MS pons cross-section

How to Draw Pons Cross-section ?

Jul 19, 2016Sep 1, 2020

Pons in latin, refers to a “bridge”. Pons varolli is a part of brain-stem, that links thalamus with medulla oblongata. The cross-section of pons is similar to the midbrain as described earlier but few things must be kept in mind: The orientation of lemnisci in midbrain is more or less…

Read More

Comments (2)

  1. Smith says:
    Aug 1, 2017 at 10:08 am

    Dear admin
    I want to ask anti-hbs is 76.61.csbt/ is high or low. Many thanks.

    Reply
  2. Agatha says:
    Jul 23, 2019 at 6:09 pm

    My sister almost died of CHRONIC HEPATITIS B, she suffered rips pain, swollen stomach, tiredness, headache and more as symptoms of the ailment. The hospital said her liver was in danger and they couldn’t help, and out of frustration I went online looking for solution to help my sister, and I came across Dr. Iyabiye’s herbal recommendation, I contacted him and explain in details the medical condition of my sister. I order for the medication and the pains was gone, she was totally cured after the herbal treatment. So, I came back here to testify of his herbal medication. Doctor’s contact: (Whatsapp: +2348072229413 call:+2348158577300) email: [email protected]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Epomedicine. Interpreting Hepatitis B Serology in 5 Easy steps [Internet]. Epomedicine; 2017 Feb 3 [cited 2026 Jul 9]. Available from: https://epomedicine.com/medical-students/interpreting-hepatitis-b-serology-5-easy-steps/.

Pre-clinical (Basic Sciences)

Anatomy

Biochemistry

Community medicine (PSM)

Embryology

Microbiology

Pathology

Pharmacology

Physiology

Clinical Sciences

Anesthesia

Dermatology

Emergency medicine

Forensic

Internal medicine

Gynecology & Obstetrics

Oncology

Ophthalmology

Orthopedics

Otorhinolaryngology (ENT)

Pediatrics

Psychiatry

Radiology

Surgery

RSS Ask Epomedicine

  • What to study for Clinical examination in Orthopedics?
  • What is the mechanism of AVNRT?

Epomedicine weekly

  • About Epomedicine
  • Contact Us
  • Author Guidelines
  • Submit Article
  • Editorial Board
  • USMLE
  • MRCS
  • Thesis
©2026 Epomedicine | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes