HBV infection in Belgium: Results of the BASL observatory of 1,456 HBsAg carriers

Nationwide studies are mandatory to assess changes in the epidemiology of HBV infection in Europe. To describe epidemiological characteristics of HBsAg-positive patients, especially inactive carriers, and to evaluate how practitioners manage HBV patients in real life. Belgian physicians were asked to report all chronically infected HBV patients during a one-year period. Among 1,456 patients included, 1,035 (71%) were classified into one of four phases of chronic infection: immune tolerance (n = 10), HBeAg-positive hepatitis (n = 248), HBeAg-negative hepatitis (n = 420) and inactive carrier state (n = 357 HBeAg-negative patients with ALT