> if the virus and its DNA are undetectable then you can't spread it
The devil may be in the details. E.g. if a COVID test shows negative, it doesn't mean that you can't spread it. This is partly because different tests have different sensitivities.
> I'm pretty sure
FYI, without citations, it is hard to distinguish credible experts vs people on the internet saying "trust me bro".
A patient that is functionally cured shouldn't pass on the disease. Since it is cleared from the blood and the viral DNA is undetectable, it is not replicating anymore, so it can't be transmitted. They risk is not absolute since the dormant virus is still genetically encoded in the liver.
The trial enrolled non-cirrhotic patients with moderate baseline HBsAg (100 to 3,000 IU/mL) already on stable nucleotide analogue therapy. That selection matters because HBV-related deaths are driven almost entirely by cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, and those outcomes cluster in patients with higher antigen loads and advanced disease. The 19% result is real and independently replicated in over 1,800 patients, but whether bepirovirsen reduces the 1.1 million HBV deaths per year depends on trials in populations that weren't enrolled here.
If so, if a treated patient spreads the virus, will that new patient carry an innoculated virus? Or will they suffer a standard infection?
The devil may be in the details. E.g. if a COVID test shows negative, it doesn't mean that you can't spread it. This is partly because different tests have different sensitivities.
> I'm pretty sure
FYI, without citations, it is hard to distinguish credible experts vs people on the internet saying "trust me bro".