The hepatitis Bblood testsare collectively known as the serologic panel.
This set of tests can accurately diagnose current and past hepatitis B infection.
To help clarify, below are the six interpretations organized in a table from these hepatitis B markers.
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6 Interpretations of the Serologic Panel
1.
If Your Tests Are:
You’re probably susceptible to hepatitis B.
If Your Tests Are:
You’re probably immune due to natural infection.
You don’t have the viral antigen circulating, but you are showing both antibodies.
The core antibody is the one that indicates this was due to infection rather than vaccination.
If Your Tests Are:
You’re probably immune due to hepatitis B vaccination.
Often this is the result seen on follow-up after immunization and it is a good outcome.
If you weren’t vaccinated, that is something your healthcare provider will explore further.
If Your Tests Are:
You’re probably acutely infected.
If Your Tests Are:
You’re probably chronically infected.
You probably aren’t in the acute infection stage.
You might have a false-positive test for the core antibody.
You may also have a low-level chronic hepatitis B infection.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Interpretation of hepatitis B serologic test results.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Clinical testing and diagnosis for hepatitis B.
