Hepatitis B Testing in Singapore: Hepatitis B test Singapore: There are a variety of tests for Hepatitis B.
| Abbreviation | Name | Presence in blood indicates |
|---|---|---|
| HBsAg | Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (Australia antigen) |
Carrier |
| HBsAb | Hepatitis B Surface Antibody | Immunity |
| HBeAg | Hepatitis B Envelope Antigen | Infectivity/Activity |
| HBeAb | Hepatitis B Envelope Antibody | Favourable prognosis |
| HBcAg | Hepatitis B Core Antigen | Not detectable in blood Detectable in liver biopsy |
| HBcAb | Hepatitis B Core Antibody | HBsAb presence due to infection |
Blood testing is available for all the above except HBcAg
LABORATORY TESTS
Serologic markers
The order of appearance of markers in acute infections is – HBsAg, HBeAg, antiHBc IgM, antiHBe, antiHBc IgG, antiHBs (Annex VI).
The significance of HBs antigen and antibody markers is shown below:
Marker Clinical Significance
| HBsAg | Presence of HBV |
| HBeAg | Virus replication, High infectivity |
| Anti-HBc IgM | Acute infection |
| Anti-HBc IgG | Late acute or chronic infection |
| Anti-HBe | Loss of replication, low infectivity |
| Anti-HBs | Protective antibody |