Changes in the prevalence of HBeAg‐negative mutant hepatitis B virus during the course of chronic hepatitis B
Keisuke Hamasaki, Keisuke Nakata, Yuji Nagayama, Akira Ohtsuru, Manabu Daikoku, Kenji Taniguchi, Takuya Tsutsumi, Yoshiaki Sato, Yuji Kato, Shigenobu Nagataki – 1 July 1994 – Hepatitis B virus with a G‐to‐A point mutation at nucleotide 83 in the precore region (mutant hepatitis B virus 83), which cannot produce HBeAg, is commonly found in HBe antibody‐positive hepatitis B virus carriers. We analyzed the consecutive changes in the prevalence of mutant hepatitis B virus 83 during the course of chronic hepatitis B virus infection.