False positive Hepatitis B?

[nurseanonymous27]

Hi. I'm a nurse and in 2011 I was vaccinated against Hep B. I was tested negative for the hep b antigen at the time and following my three injections I was confirmed as immune to hep b. In 2015 I started a new job and had my immunity status reconfirmed as immune, I then fell pregnant. During my pregnancy I had a routine hep b test and it came back as positive... Once I explained that I had been vaccinated I was retested and confirmed as negative for hep b. I then started to have episodes of right upper quadrant pain, nausea and vomiting. After giving birth to my son who has not been vaccinated against hep b as my hep b status did not imply he needed to be... The episodes of pain got worse and I had an ultrasound and further blood tests. My ultrasound showed fatty deposits on my liver and polyps in the gallbladder, after being referred to a liver specialist I have now received another positive chronic hep b result!

My question is how is this possible when I am vaccinated and immune? Is this a false positive and what causes a false positive? Or is this some kind of mutation?

Please help with serious answers as I am very worried. My next appointment is a month away and I am concerned for my son. I will be asking for a repeat test to rule out another false positive but i don't want to put my son through unnecessary blood tests as he is only 4 months old.

Thank you.

[Kazfiz]

Hi just read this and was wondering what the outcome was. Praying it was a good one for you.

[StephenCastlecrag]

I can certainly understand your frustrations and concerns. I think a full serology test of HBSAg, HBsAb, HBeAg, HBeAb, and HBcAb(both Igg and I Gm) should give you better picture. If necessary, you may even do a hbvdna test.
Mutation is unlikely because the HBsAg test covers many variants. As a nurse, you have a higher risk of being infected  with direct exposure to blood. Gallbladder blockage can certainly cause severe right upper quadrant pain and nausea after a fatty meal.
Just my opinion.