Reactivation of precore variant hepatitis B virus in a child with severe aplastic anaemia

Abstract

Reactivation of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection due to selection of precore variant virus is an uncommon complication of previous hepatitis B infection, and virtually unrecognised in children and adolescents. A child who had received treatment with methylprednisolone and antilymphocyte globulin for severe aplastic anaemia developed high levels of detectable HBV DNA associated with hepatitis B e antibody (anti-HBe) positivity. HBV DNA was extracted, amplified and the core and precore regions sequenced from 2 samples. A mixture of wild-type and the precore variants A(1896) and A(1899) was detected in both samples, with the wild-type predominating in the second sample. Reinfection was excluded by phylogenetic analysis using Phylip and the neighbour-joining method. Precore variant Hepatitis B virus can be transmitted to children as a primary infection, and it is important that aggressive liver disease, particularly in the presence of the anti-HBe phenotype, be investigated. Further studies are needed to determine the frequency of these variants.

Natural history and clinical management of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in children

“…Children in this phase may have nonspecific or minimal fibrosis. In contrast to adults, acute exacerbation of hepatitis, characterized by reactivation of HBV replication and re-elevation of ALT due to selection of precore variant virus, is a relatively uncommon complication in children and adolescents after seroconversion to anti-HBe [13,15,16,20,21].…”