Persistence of HBsAg, HBeAg and Anti-HBe in Healthy Blood Donors

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Abstract
The persistence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), e antigen (HBeAg) and antibodies to e antigen (anti-HBe) was studied retrospectively in 197 Finnish voluntary blood donors who were positive for HBsAg by routine screening in 1970 or 1971. Two samples were available from each donor: the first was taken in 1970 or 1971 and the second in 1978; the average interval between the specimens was 7.6 yr. All except 1 (99.5%) of the donors remained HBsAg carriers during the whole study period. HBeAg was detected initially in 3 (2%) cases, all of whom lost HBeAg after the follow-up and 2 converted to anti-HBe-positive. Anti-HBe was found in the first samples of 158 (80%) HBsAg carriers, 154 (97%) of whom were still positive for anti-HBe in the 2nd samples. The HBsAg carrier stage may be stable as for the presence of HBsAg and anti-HBe.