<prompt> Presence of Hbe Ag in patients with hepatitis indicates -Simple carriersLate convalescenceHigh infectivityCarrier status  <response>: HBeAg appears in blood concurrently with HBsAg or soon afterward. Circulating HBeAg is an indicator of active intrahepatic viral multiplication, and the presence in blood of DNA polymerase, HBV DNA and virions, reflecting high infectivity. REF:ANANTHANARAYAN AND PANIKERS TEXTBOOK OF MICROBIOLOGY 9TH EDITION PAGE NO-547 