A thirty-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) 1230/900 IU/ ml The serological tests showed presence of HBsAg , IgM anti HBc and HBeAg . The most likely diagnosis:

Ans. is 'b' i.e., Acute hepatitis B infection with high infectivity (Ref: Ananthanarayan, 9th/e, p. 548 and 8th/e, p. 544)* Presence of HBsAg, IgM anti HBc and HBeAg suggest the diagnosis of acute hepatitis B with high infectivity. HBsAgAnti HBsAgHBeAg Anti HBeAg Anti HBcAgAcuteHBV (high infectivity)+-+ IgMAcute HBV (low infectivity)+- +IgMChronic HBV (high infectivity)+-+ IgGChronic HBV (low infectivity)+- +IgGRecovery-+-+IgGImmunized-+ -