Viral and host factors leading to occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) are not fully understood. Whether HBV genotype may influence the occurrence and course of OBIs is unknown. Here, we describe the case of a patient infected with HBV genotype A2 who developed symptomatic acute hepatitis and did not seroconvert after loss of HBsAg and HBeAg. The acute phase of hepatitis B was followed by a period of more than 2 years during which the DNA of an intergenotypic HBV/A2/G recombinant was intermittently detected in serum.
Keywords: Brazil; Genotype A; Genotype G; HBsAg loss; Occult hepatitis B; Recombinant virus.
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