Hepatitis C Virus‐specific Cellular Immune Responses in Sustained Virological Responders with Viral Persistence in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐RNA detection in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after recovery from HCV infection, is a type of occult HCV infection although is unclear how the viral persistence in PBMCs affects HCV‐specific T‐cell responses. The aim of this study was to investigate if cellular immune responses are modified by HCV persistence in PBMCs.