Acute versus Chronic HBV infection. Where do they differ?

Hepatitis B viral infection may occur at birth, childhood or during adulthood. But the number of infected person’s resolving infection depends on age at infection. The differentiating factor could be person’s immune status. Even though immunization against Hepatitis B virus is available, still owing to absence of flu like symptoms and delayed type of Hepatitis B virus replication, it becomes difficult to diagnose and treat at an early stage. Chronic infection of hepatitis B virus causes liver function deficit, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The role of innate immunity in limiting hepatitis B viral infection in early stages is unclear. In this article we demarcate differences between acute and chronic hepatitis B virus infection and the factors behind each outcome. The main subjects covered are the differences in the microenvironment, immune mediators in liver during acute and chronic infection, strategies used by hepatitis B virus to escape immune response.