Priorities for screening and management | n (%) |
---|---|
Which patients do you think should be screened for hepatitis B infection? (n=64) | |
High-risk populations (pregnant women, persons with multiple sex partners, inmates, etc) | 32 (50.0) |
Older patients (>55 years) | 1 (1.6) |
All patients | 31 (48.4) |
Which patients with hepatitis B should be prioritised for treatment? (n=74) | |
All patients with compensated or decompensated cirrhosis, regardless of ALT levels, HBeAg status or HBV DNA levels | 33 (44.6) |
Only patients with decompensated cirrhosis, regardless of ALT levels, HBeAg status or HBV DNA levels | 12 (16.2) |
Adults with CHB who do not have clinical evidence of cirrhosis, but are older and have highly persistently abnormal ALT levels and evidence of high-level HBV replication, regardless of HBeAg status | 24 (32.4) |
Patients with persistently abnormal ALT levels alone, regardless of HBeAg status (where HBV DNA testing is not available) | 5 (6.8) |
Which patients need to be screened for HDV coinfection? (n=86) | |
Patients known to be HBsAg positive and symptomatic | 37 (43.0) |
All patients known to be HBsAg positive, including asymptomatic patients | 40 (46.5) |
Patients with acute hepatitis B who are not yet HBsAg positive, but are IgM anti-HBc positive | 4 (4.7) |
Chronic HBV carriers with a history of or active injection drug use | 4 (4.7) |
No patients should be screened | 1 (1.2) |
ALT, alanine aminotransferase; anti-HBc, hepatitis B core antibody; CHB, chronic hepatitis B; HBeAg, hepatitis B envelope antigen; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HDV, hepatitis D virus.