An estimated 1.2 million people in the United States. and 350 million globally are infected with hepatitis B, a type of viral infection that attacks the liver. The condition is often characterized by symptoms such as dark urine, fever, appetite loss, abdominal pain, fatigue and weakness, jaundice and joint pain.
Around 1% of hepatitis patients will develop fulminant hepatitis, a dangerous condition that can lead to liver failure and death while 5% of patients who develop hepatitis B in adulthood will develop chronic hepatitis B. However, the majority of hepatitis B patients can manage the condition through pharmaceuticals, eating a healthy diet and drinking fluids to remain hydrated.
Early diagnosis through testing is key to addressing the condition before symptoms can snowball and become more severe. Physicians typically test for the condition using a hepatitis B surface antibody test (HBsAB) to check for blood antibodies and determine if an individual has developed immunity to the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Taking a BBsAb test will allow you to detect whether you have HBV immunity and if you currently have antibodies that can stave off infections in the future. This test can also help physicians determine if you were recently exposed to HBV and how recently the exposure occurred.
Physicians will deploy either the hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) test or the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) test to check for current or previous infections. HBcAB tests can detect both previous and current infections while HBsA tests can only detect current infections. Both tests will provide either reactive (positive) or nonreactive (negative) results.
A reactive HBsAb result indicates that you were previously infected with hepatitis B or vaccinated and now have immunity to HBV while a nonreactive HbsAB result typically indicates that you have no immunity to HBV.
Doctors can also interpret nonreactive results from both tests in various ways. For instance, physicians may recommend that a patient who had three negative results take a hepatitis B vaccine because they likely aren’t immune to the condition.
Patients who receive reactive HbsAg and HBcAb tests and nonreactive (negative) HBsAb tests may be diagnosed with chronic or acute hepatitis B. Your doctor may recommend further tests to ascertain whether you have acute hepatitis B in this case.
Inversely, positive HBcAb results coupled with negative HBsAg and HBsAg tests may indicate a previous hepatitis B infection, an uncommon HBsAg strain that slipped under the lab’s radar, or a false positive. Nonreactive HBsAb test results coupled with reactive HBsAg and HBcAb test results may also call for further testing.
Entities such as Renovaro BioSciences Inc. (NASDAQ: RENB) are actively developing treatments that they hope will be able to cure hepatitis B as well as other serious infectious diseases that are threatening populations around the globe.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Renovaro BioSciences Inc. (NASDAQ: RENB) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/RENB
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