Ubiquitous expression of HBsAg from integrated HBV DNA in patients with low viral load

•A unique set of liver biopsies from patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B infection was studied.•HBV RNA and antigen expression are ubiquitous in the liver despite low viremia.•Levels of the viral transcriptional template cccDNA are not sufficient for ubiquitous HBV RNA and antigen expression.•Ubiquitous viral antigen expression is associated with virus-host chimeric transcription.•Intrahepatic viral DNA and RNA levels are consistent with widespread HBV integration.