This abbreviation stands for anti-HBe, which means hepatitis B e antibody. It is commonly found in the five tests of hepatitis B, and is the fourth of these tests. Generally, if there is a positive e antibody, the other four indicators will be combined to determine what the problem is. The common ones are surface antigen positive, e antibody positive, and core antibody positive, which is what we usually call 1, 4, and 5 positive. We call this a minor triplet, and it is an indicator of persistent infection for chronic hepatitis B infection. If there is a positive surface antibody, positive e antibody, and positive core antibody, which is what we call 2, 4, or 5, the presence of these three positive antibodies is usually common in the recovery phase of hepatitis B infection. This recovery period is generally not contagious, but there are very few patients who are found to be replicating the virus when the DNA quantification of hepatitis B is done again, which may further damage the liver, so further examination is required.