This is an important page from the Hepatitis B Foundation: Other Tests. Key quote: “Hepatitis B can be a complicated liver infection to understand, so additional blood tests may be ordered so your health provider has a better understanding of what kind of care and follow-up is needed.”
Summarized–
🧪 Hepatitis B Blood Tests Cheat Sheet
Core Antibodies
- Anti-HBc IgM → Recent infection (acute).
- Anti-HBc IgG → Older/chronic infection.
Viral Activity & Infectivity
- HBeAg (e-antigen) → Positive = virus actively replicating, highly infectious.
- Anti-HBe → Often appears after HBeAg disappears; usually favorable, but virus may still be active in some cases.
Viral Load & Surface Antigen
- HBV DNA (viral load) → Amount of virus in blood; guides treatment decisions.
- qHBsAg (quantitative HBsAg) → Amount of surface antigen; combined with HBV DNA for deeper insights.
Special / Advanced Tests
- Drug resistance, genotype, mutations (BCP-PreCore) → Used if treatment not working or for specialist care.
🧬 Liver Health Monitoring
- ALT & AST → Liver enzymes; high = liver damage (ALT is more liver-specific).
- AFP (Alpha-fetoprotein) → Screening for liver cancer in chronic hepatitis B.
- Ferritin → High = possible liver damage from iron leakage.
📋 Other Helpful Tests
- Hepatic Function Panel / LFTs → Overall liver health (proteins, bilirubin, enzymes).
- CBC (Complete Blood Count) → Checks blood cell levels (may be affected in liver disease).
⚠️ Important: These tests are interpreted together, not in isolation. Doctors look at patterns (e.g., viral load + liver enzymes + antigen status) to decide on monitoring or treatment.
