The hepatitis Bblood testsare collectively known as the serologic panel. This set of tests can accurately diagnose current and past hepatitis B infection. Since there are a number of markers and at least six interpretations of the various results, determining their meaning can be challenging. To help clarify, below are the six interpretations organized in a table from these hepatitis B markers.
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Tests in the Hepatitis B Serologic Panel
The serological panel for hepatitis B includes several tests that check for the presence of specific antibodies or proteins in a sample of your blood:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all adults get screened for hepatitis B at least once in their lifetime. For the initial screening, your healthcare provider may order a “triple panel” comprising the HBsAg, anti-HBs, and anti-HBc tests.
Understanding the Hepatitis B e-Antigen (HBeAg)
6 Interpretations of the Serologic Panel
1. If Your Tests Are:
You’re probably susceptible to hepatitis B. If you are eligible for the hepatitis B vaccine, you could get vaccinated to reduce your risk of infection in the future.
2. 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. Often people are surprised to learn they had an infection in the past, as many cases have only minor symptoms.
3. 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.
4. If Your Tests Are:
You’re probably acutely infected. The presence of IgM anti-HBc, along with HBsAg, shows that there is virus circulating in your body and you are producing an early reaction to it. This wouldn’t be the case with a chronic infection or an infection further in the past that you recovered from.
5. If Your Tests Are:
You’re probably chronically infected. You are continuing to make core antibody and you have virus circulating, but your early IgM antibody has faded away. In this case, your healthcare provider will most likely obtain liver function tests and viral DNA levels to determine eligibility for treatment.
6. If Your Tests Are:
With this result, it could be several things, the most common of which is that you had a hepatitis B infection that has resolved or is resolving. You probably aren’t in the acute infection stage. You might have afalse-positivetest for the core antibody. You aren’t immune to hepatitis B, so you need to take care of exposure risk and you should discuss whether vaccination is advised. You may also have a low-level chronic hepatitis B infection.
2 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.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.
2 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.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.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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.
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.
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