Serological markers of hepatitis B infection.

Tests currently available or under development for the various markers of HBV infection have allowed a description and classification of different responses to infection. To be of maximum value in assessing the stage and prognosis in virological terms, consecutive samples from an individual are required. Although well over 90 per cent of blood donations capable of transmitting infection can be presumptively identified and witheld, no reliable, sensitive, direct measures of infectivity are available routinely.