Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Clin Infect Dis. Sep 8, 2026; 15(1): 122164
Published online Sep 8, 2026. doi: 10.5495/wjcid.122164
Published online Sep 8, 2026. doi: 10.5495/wjcid.122164
Hepatitis B immune globulin to prevent hepatitis B recurrence after liver transplant: A single-center experience
Hiwot M Abate, Department of Gastroenterology, Carillon Clinic, Roanoke, VA 24014, United States
Jennifer Byrns, Alec Martschenko, Department of Pharmacy, Duke University Hospital, Durham, NC 27710, United States
Lindsay Y King, Kara Wegermann, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, United States
Author contributions: Wegermann K, Byrns J, and Martschenko A designed the study; Wegermann K supervised the project; Abate HM performed data collection and analysis, wrote the manuscript; all authors revised the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by our center’s Institutional Review Board (No. 00114976) and received a waiver of informed consent.
Informed consent statement: The study received a waiver of informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: De-identified data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to institutional and IRB approval.
Corresponding author: Kara Wegermann, MD, Assistant Professor, Division of Gastroen
Received: April 13, 2026
Revised: April 21, 2026
Accepted: May 14, 2026
Published online: September 8, 2026
Processing time: 149 Days and 12.1 Hours
Revised: April 21, 2026
Accepted: May 14, 2026
Published online: September 8, 2026
Processing time: 149 Days and 12.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: We studied liver transplant (LT) recipients with chronic hepatitis B, who are often given long durations of hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) to prevent hepatitis B recurrence, and found that as little as 6 months of HBIG effectively suppressed hepatitis B DNA and prevented recurrence. Our findings have the potential to reduce cost, side effects, and inconvenience for LT recipients with hepatitis B without compromising patient safety.