Question
My little one, we took him for a check-up a couple of days ago, and the blood test results for hepatitis B showed that the 2, 4, 5 items are positive. The doctor said there’s nothing to worry about, but isn’t a positive result bad? How could such a young child get infected with hepatitis B? Is there a problem with the 2, 4, 5 positivity?
Answer
A 2, 4, 5 positivity means that the baby’s surface antigen, e antigen, and core antibody tests for hepatitis B are positive. Simply put, it means your baby has previously been infected with hepatitis B but has now recovered and there’s no need to worry. The most important is the second item being positive, indicating that your baby has developed antibodies against the hepatitis B virus and can be immune to it for some time, preventing infection. The positivity of e antigen and core antibody suggests that your baby has recently been infected with the hepatitis B virus.