{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T21:37:56Z","timestamp":1780609076150,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,10]],"date-time":"2024-10-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1728518400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the risk of hepatitis B virus reactivation (HBVr) in COVID-19 patients receiving immunosuppressive treatment, which has been insufficiently studied to date. Secondarily, we aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of HBV infection in COVID-19 patients. Methods: We performed HBV screening on all Romanian adults hospitalized in four COVID-19 wards between October 2021 and September 2022. We enrolled patients with positive hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) without protective hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs), HBV treatment, or baseline immunosuppressive conditions, and we conducted a virological follow-up on these patients at 3 months. Results: We identified 333\/835 (39.9%) anti-HBc-positive patients. Follow-up was performed for 13 patients with positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and 19 HBsAg-negative\/anti-HBc-positive patients. Among those who received immunosuppressants, 4\/23 (17.4%) patients experienced HBVr: 1 out of 8 (12.5%) HBsAg-positive patients (with 1.99 log increase in HBV DNA level) and 3 out of 15 (20%) HBsAg-negative\/anti-HBc-positive patients (with a de novo detectable HBV DNA level). Conclusions: Administration of COVID-19 immunosuppressants may result in a significant risk of HBVr in co-infected patients. We recommend performing an HBV triple screen panel (HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc) for all COVID-19 patients receiving immunosuppressive treatment. HBV prophylaxis may be indicated in certain patients. Larger studies are needed in order to establish appropriate and cost-effective management for these patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm13206032","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,10]],"date-time":"2024-10-10T07:53:05Z","timestamp":1728546785000},"page":"6032","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Risk of Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation in COVID-19 Patients Receiving Immunosuppressive Treatment: A Prospective Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-3953-0767","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicoleta","family":"Mihai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy \u2018Carol Davila\u2019, No 37, Dionisie Lupu, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute of Infectious Diseases \u2018Matei Bals\u2019, 1 Dr. Calistrat Grozovici, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3442-2338","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihaela Cristina","family":"Olariu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy \u2018Carol Davila\u2019, No 37, Dionisie Lupu, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute of Infectious Diseases \u2018Matei Bals\u2019, 1 Dr. Calistrat Grozovici, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oana-Alexandra","family":"Ganea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy \u2018Carol Davila\u2019, No 37, Dionisie Lupu, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute of Infectious Diseases \u2018Matei Bals\u2019, 1 Dr. Calistrat Grozovici, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aida-Isabela","family":"Adamescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Infectious Diseases \u2018Matei Bals\u2019, 1 Dr. Calistrat Grozovici, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy \u2018Carol Davila\u2019, No 37, Dionisie Lupu, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Violeta","family":"Molagic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy \u2018Carol Davila\u2019, No 37, Dionisie Lupu, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute of Infectious Diseases \u2018Matei Bals\u2019, 1 Dr. Calistrat Grozovici, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0019-934X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"\u0218tefan Sorin","family":"Aram\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Infectious Diseases \u2018Matei Bals\u2019, 1 Dr. Calistrat Grozovici, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy \u2018Carol Davila\u2019, No 37, Dionisie Lupu, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"C\u0103t\u0103lin","family":"Tili\u0219can","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Infectious Diseases \u2018Matei Bals\u2019, 1 Dr. Calistrat Grozovici, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy \u2018Carol Davila\u2019, No 37, Dionisie Lupu, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Victoria","family":"Aram\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy \u2018Carol Davila\u2019, No 37, Dionisie Lupu, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute of Infectious Diseases \u2018Matei Bals\u2019, 1 Dr. Calistrat Grozovici, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2024, September 10). 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