Hepatitis B virus infection may either be acute (self-limiting) or chronic (long-standing). Persons with self-limiting infection clear the infection spontaneously within weeks to months.
Children are less likely than adults to clear the infection. More than 95% of people who become infected as adults or older children will stage a full recovery and develop protective immunity to the virus. However, this drops to 30% for younger children, and only 5% of newborns that acquire the infection from their mother at birth will clear the infection. This population has a 40% lifetime risk of death from cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. Of those infected between the age of one to six, 70% will clear the infection.
Hepatitis D (HDV) can only occur with a concomitant hepatitis B infection, because HDV uses the HBV surface antigen to form a capsid. Co-infection with hepatitis D increases the risk of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. ''Polyarteritis nodosa'' is more common in people with hepatitis B infection.
Reactivation
Hepatitis B virus DNA persists in the body after infection and in some people the disease recurs. Although rare, reactivation is seen most often in people with impaired immunity. HBV goes through cycles of replication and non-replication. Approximately 50% of patients experience acute reactivation. Male patients with baseline ALT of 200 UL/L are three times more likely to develop a reactivation than patients with lower levels. Patients who undergo chemotherapy are at risk for HBV reactivation. The current view is that immunosuppressive drugs favor increased HBV replication while inhibiting cytotoxic T cell function in the liver.
Further Reading
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