Figure 1

Flow chart of subject recruitment and selection for analysis. 1466 subjects were initially recruited. Due to practical reasons in a resource-constrained context (in which extensive and systematic follow-up of healthy subjects is not feasible), studies on biomarkers have been carried out on second or third blood samples collected at recall of subjects who were confirmed chronic carriers. From the initial recruitment, a total of 199 subjects reported for the first recall and carrier status was confirmed for 195 subjects. Among these subjects, 152 reported for a third sample, which was used to measure viral load (152 subjects) and to perform Actitest/Fibrotest (147 subjects; data on 5 subjects not available due to experimental failure). Among these 147 subjects, DNA could be extracted from the plasma for 105 subjects, who were tested for R249S, HBX (n = 105), HBe testing (n = 103) or HBV genotype (n = 90). The reduction in numbers for HBe and HBV genotype is due to experimental failure.