Can hepatitis B be detected through routine physical examination?

Routine physical examination will not detect hepatitis B. The core depends on whether the package includes specific testing items for hepatitis B. Most of the default basic routine physical examination will not detect hepatitis B.

I have come across many people who have this misunderstanding, thinking that if there are no problems with the annual routine physical examination, it means that they are not infected with hepatitis B. Previously, a young man born in 1995 had a basic physical examination when he joined the job, and all liver function tests were normal. Later, because he needed to take the hepatitis B vaccine, he specially took the hepatitis B two-and-a-half test, and found out that he was already a hepatitis B virus carrier. However, the virus had not damaged liver function, and the liver function items in the routine physical examination did not show any indication at all. It's actually like there is a malicious program hidden in your phone that hasn't been started yet. You can't find its existence just by looking at common indicators such as running memory usage and battery consumption.

Of course, not all routine physical examinations will encounter results related to hepatitis B. If your own hepatitis B has developed to the stage of liver function damage, the transaminase and bilirubin indicators in routine physical examinations will be abnormal. Doctors will usually proactively recommend that you do additional screening for viral hepatitis. At this time, hepatitis B may also be diagnosed later, but this is not directly detected by routine physical examinations. If you take the initiative to add two and a half items of hepatitis B and quantification of hepatitis B virus DNA to your routine physical examination package, you will definitely be able to detect hepatitis B infection directly. A while ago, there was an uncle who often went out for business. He was worried about the risk of infection when dining out, so he deliberately added five items of hepatitis B. Only then was it found that the antibody titer was not enough, and he took a booster shot.

There are now different voices in the industry on this issue. Some public health scholars believe that routine physical examinations plus hepatitis B screening can detect infected people earlier and intervene promptly to reduce the risk of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Others are worried that large-scale screening will aggravate the existing employment discrimination against hepatitis B. Therefore, the principle of voluntary testing is still followed at present. The country also has clear regulations that unless routine physical examinations for entrance and employment are special physical examinations for special industries such as catering, early childhood education, and blood station staff, no unit can force the subjects to undergo hepatitis B-related testing. If you have a history of high-risk exposures such as sharing needles, unprotected high-risk sexual behavior, or contact with unknown blood, and you want to check for hepatitis B, don’t just do the default routine physical examination. You must take the initiative to talk to the doctor about adding a hepatitis B two-and-a-half program.