Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection and Its Risks of Cryptic Transmission in Southern Ethiopia.

In this study, the prevalence of OBI is high. This indicates the burden of HBV is considerable since screening is exclusively dependent on HBsAg which will not eliminate the possibility of residual cryptic transmission through blood donation, organ transplantation, perinatal transmission, and other contacts. Our results demonstrate that nucleic acid-based testing (NAT) should be an essential part of screening to prevent missing OBI.