Statements from the Taormina expert meeting on occult hepatitis B virus infection

Occult HBV infection is a complex biological entity with possible relevant clinical implications. There are discordant data sets on several aspects of OBI, mainly reflecting the lack of methodological uniformity among the different studies, and varied technical approaches employed for the diagnosis of OBI. The goal of the Taormina meeting was to review the present knowledge on occult HBV and to identify the most appropriate ways that should be followed in future studies. Hopefully, these statements may represent the basis for uniform methodological approaches that will be essential for resolving the current controversies that still exist with regard to this virologically important and clinically relevant topic.