Abstract

ABSTRACT :
BACKGROUND:
HBV infection is a worldwide infectious disease that acutely infects 2 billion yearly, thus finding a precise, accurate and sensitive diagnostic test for this infection is highly advisable. Real Time PCR has been introduced to achieve that mission.
OBJECTIVE:
Confirm the role of Real Time PCR as a precise tool for diagnosis of HBV infection in Iraq.
PATIENTS AND METHODS:
In this study, 40 patients of HBV with HBs Antigen positive serological test and 20 individuals with HBs Antigen negative were selected to be the material of the study and they were tested by Real Time PCR to estimate the exact amount of HBV genome in their blood.
RESULTS:
All the cases with HBs Antigen positive have had viral load with different values and no case with HBs Antigen negative have been found to have any viral element.
CONCLUSION:
Real Time PCR is useful and precise tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with HBV infection and further studies are required to find a useful classification of the viral load and a correlation need to be found between viral load and the serological panel and especially HBe Antigen and HBe Antibody