4 French aCronyms decoded: HEPATITIS B

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A post shared by Brooke A. Cochran (@bcochranhuman) on Sep 12, 2018 at 7:34am PDT

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When translating French documents discussing hepatitis B, the medical science translator must be on the lookout for several, potentially confusing, acronyms and be careful to use them in the same order as the source. I have come across the topic in hospital reports and journal articles in which a patient is tested for the virus as part of a diagnostic panel.

The most common acronyms in English, followed by the French:
HBsAg = hepatitis B surface antigen (French = Ag HBS)
HBsAb =  hepatitis B surface antibody (French = Ac anti-HBS) 
HBcAb = hepatitis B core antibody (French = Ac anti-HBC)
HBeAg = hepatitis B e antigen (French = Ag HBe)

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FYI: Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection that can be prevented by vaccination. It can be acute or chronic. Chronic infection is more likely to develop in children exposed to the virus before they turn 1 year old, usually due to maternal exposure. I do not claim to be an expert on the subject. If you want more information, WHO has a fact sheet available in several languages.

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At first glance, in a document describing a patients' lab work results, these abbreviations appear to be a jumble of similar letters. For example, "La sérologie VHC est négative. La sérologie VHB montre Ac anti-HBS X.XX, Ag HBS X.XX, Ac anti-HBC X.XX et Ag HBe X.XX."

Two important pieces of the puzzle to recognize are anticorps (ac or ac anti-XXX) = antibody (ab) and antigène (Ag) = antigen (Ag). 

Next, it is important to recognize that S, C, and e are the same in French and English (surface, core, and e).

Thus, my translation of the above sentence reads, "The HCV serology test was negative. The HBV serology test found HBsAb X.XX, HBsAg X.XX, HBcAb X.XX, and HBeAg X.XX."

Be sure to proofread side-by-side with the source! This ensures an Ag doesn't end up where an Ab belongs and prevents similar mistakes.