Nucleic Acid Testing for the Detection of HBV DNA

We read with interest the article by arababadi et al. (1), which highlights different and important areas of concern in the management of occult hepatitis b (obi). there are two relevant issues worthy of discussion. first, the authors described the variable prevalence of obi in different geographical regions worldwide. the laboratory assay used to detect obi is an important determinant of its prevalence. because of the low viremic state of patients, obi may not be detected even when sensitive polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assays are employed. results of a recent population study in our locality involving 13,034 blood donors showed the prevalence of obi to be between 0.11% and 0.13% (2).