Hepatitis B virus infection (HBV) is considered a global health threat as it is associated with liver decompensation, liver cirrhosis and primary liver cancer [1]. Worldwide, approximately 269 million individuals have a chronic active hepatitis B infection [1,2]. In the Netherlands, the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B has been estimated at 0.2-0.4%, and approximately 3.5% of the population has a resolved hepatitis B infection [3–5]. Since most HBV infections progress asymptomatically, many patients are unaware of their infection.
