Occult HBV infection among a cohort of Nigerian adults.

Objective: To determine markers of HBV infection and detect the presence of its occult infection in serum of a cohort of adult Nigerians.

Methodology: The study involved 28 adult Nigerians with viral hepatitis (Group 1) and 28 apparently healthy adult Nigerians as controls (Group 2). Their sera were assayed for HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV, while HBV DNA was determined in 15 patients with chronic hepatitis.