Abstract

Background: It is estimated that about 370 million people are chronic carriers of HBV worldwide. Apparently 3 of Iranian populations are chronic carriers of this virus. We aimed to evaluate the viral DNA in biological fluids of chronic hepatitis patients compared to a control group. Methods: The current case control study was designed to evaluate the viral DNA in biological fluids of 70 chronic hepatitis patients compared to a control group using ELISA, PCR and Real Time. Results: All individuals (100) in case group were HBsAg positive while in control group only 2 individuals (2.8) were HBsAg positive. Three individuals, in control group were positive using PCR and Real Time PCR indicating that about 7 of those in control group were chronic carriers of HBV. The interesting point was the copy of viral DNA; (5.49 x10(4), 2.162x10(3)and 7.26x10(6)) for 3 chronic carriers using sera while it was about (5.71x10(3), 1.45x10(2) and 2.56x10(5)) using ear cerumen confirming the necessity of investigating for the carriers of HBV in different biological fluid and by different methods. Conclusion: It can be concluded chronic carriers of hepatitis B are much more than what is diagnosed by routine diagnostic tests. On the other hand ELISA alone can not be relied on as a complete test for screening of chronic carriers in hepatitis B. PCR and Real Time PCR are more reliable tests for this purpose.