Hepatitis B Virus: Detection and Quantitation by Membrane and Liquid Hybridization, Branched DNA Signal Amplification, Hybrid Capture, and PCR Methods

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a member of the Hepadnaviridae family and has a (3200-bp) partially double-stranded circular DNA genome (1 ). This virus causes subclinical, acute self-limited, chronic, and fulminant hepatic infections. Chronic HBV infection is particularly important because of the clinical manifestations which include: cirrhosis, hepatic failure, hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as extrahepatic manifestations, such as vasculitis and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. It is estimated that there are currently 350 million chronic HBV carriers worldwide (2 ).