A thiy year man presented with nausea, fever and jaundice of 5 days duration. The biochemical tests revealed a bilirubin of 6.7 mg/dl (conjugated 5.0 mg/dl) with SGOT/SGPT (AST/ALT) of 1230/ 900 IU/ml. The serological tests showed presence of HBsAg, IgM anti HBc and HBe Ag. The most likely diagnosis -

Ans. is 'b' i.e., Acute hepatitis B infection with high infectivity Presence of HBsAg, IgM anti HBc and HBe Ag suggest the diagnosis of acute hepatitis B with high infectivity. HBs Ag Anti HBs Ag HBe Ag Anti HBe Ag Anti HBc Ag Acute HBV (high infectivity) + + IgM Acute HBV (low infectivity) + + 1gM Chronic HBV (high infectivity) + - + IgG Chronic HBV (low infectivity) + - + IgG Recovery + - + IgG Immunized - +