Use of the polymerase chain reaction to demonstrate hepatitis B virus DNA in serum of children with chronic hepatitis B.

The polymerase chain reaction was used to investigate the presence of hepatitis B virus DNA in sera of 61 children with chronic hepatitis B and negative results on dot biot hybridization tests. Our results demonstrate that most chronic carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen in childhood have hepatitis B virus DNA detectable by polymerase chain reaction in their serum and must be considered infectious.