Data on the prevalence of occult HBV infection (OBI) in Western Europe and in Northern America are few; hence, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. All studies included had to fulfil the following inclusion criteria: (a) they investigated the prevalence of OBI (HBV DNA in liver tissue in HBsAg-negative subjects), (b) were carried out in Western Europe and in Northern America; (c) were available as a full-text manuscript, (d) written in English and (e) published up to December 2018. The exclusion criteria were as follows: (a) meta-analyses, letters, reviews, meeting abstracts or editorial comments; (b) studies investigating HBsAg-positive patients; (c) those investigating OBI outside Western Europe and in Northern America; and (d) to avoid small sample bias in the random-effects model, those enrolling less than five subjects. Thirty-four studies met the inclusion criteria, allowing a meta-analysis on 2729 patients. The overall prevalence of OBI was 34% (95% CI = 26%-42%), 28% (CI 95%: 12%-48%) in 329 subjects without chronic liver disease and 35% (95% CI 26%-44%) in 2400 patients with chronic liver disease. The prevalence of OBI was 51% (95% CI 40%-62%) in the 823 anti-HBc-positive subjects and 19% (95% CI 10%-30%) in the 1,041 anti-HBc-negative subjects. Evaluating the data from 17 studies comparing anti-HBc-positive and negative subjects, the prevalence of OBI was higher in the 641 anti-HBc-positive subjects than in the 1041 anti-HBc-negative (prevalence ratio = 2.29; 95% CI = 1.61-3.26, P < .001). This meta-analysis showed that in HBsAg-negative subjects the prevalence of OBI was high and was associated with anti-HBc positivity.
Keywords: HBV infection in western countries; anti-HBc positivity; latent HBV infection; occult HBV infection; silent HBV infection.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.