$20 Blood Test Could Contribute to "Global HBV Elimination"

An international research team has devised a simple $20 blood test that could be used widely in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) to help determine which patients with hepatitis B require immediate treatment. The affordable test is based on measurements of hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg), and levels of the liver enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT), to generate a diagnostic score, which the researchers say is as effective as existing, far more complicated, and expensive methods