"The Hepatitis B Virus Persists for Decades after Patients' Recovery from Acute Viral Hepatitis Despite Active Maintenance of a Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Response."

According to the authors' abstract of an article published in Nature Medicine, "It is widely believed that the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is completely cleared by antiviral antibodies and specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) during acute viral hepatitis. We now demonstrate that traces of HBV are often detectable in the blood for many years after clinical recovery from acute hepatitis, despite the presence of serum antibodies and HBV-specific CTLs, which can be present at acute-stage levels. The strength of the CTL response to HBV following clinical recovery correlates with persistence of HBV DNA. It is of particular interest that HBV-specific CTLs from patients studied up to 23 years...

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