_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: Email: baribefe.koate@ust.edu.ng; International Journal of TROPICAL DISEASE & Health 42(8): 1-9, 2021; Article no.IJTDH.68218 ISSN: 2278–1005, NLM ID: 101632866 Evaluation of the Immunological Status in Occult Hepatitis B Virus-infected Patients Attending Rivers State University Teaching Hospital Baribefe Banavule Daniel Koate 1* , Blessing Didia 1 , Tombari Pius Monsi 2 and Zacchaeus Awortu Jeremiah 1 1 Haematology Unit, Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. 2 Microbiology Unit, Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. Author BBDK designed the study. Author BD carried out the laboratory experiments. Authors ZAJ, BBDK and TPM managed the literature searches, performed the statistical analysis, wrote the protocol. Author BD and BBDK wrote the first draft of the manuscript and managed the analyses of the study. Author ZAJ ensured integrity of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/IJTDH/2021/v42i830474 Editor(s): (1) Dr. Giuseppe Murdaca, University of Genoa, Italy. Reviewers: (1) Bárbara Vieira do Lago, Oswaldo Crus Foundation (Fiocruz), Brazil. (2) Rahul Shil, Dayananda Sagar University, India. (3) Blego Sedionoto, Mulawarman University, Indonesia. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sdiarticle4.com/review-history/68218 Received 20 March 2021 Accepted 24 May 2021 Published 11 June 2021 ABSTRACT Background: Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is a rare form of infection that is characterized by the presence of replication-competent HBV DNA in the liver but without detectable HBsAg in the serum. Aim: This study aimed to determine the comparative levels of immunological variables particularly CD4 counts and differential white blood cell (WBC) counts in occult hepatitis B and HBsAg positive subjects among prospective blood donors in Port Harcourt Metropolis in Nigeria. Methods: The CD4 count and total and differential WBC counts were analyzed with automated Original Research Article