To characterize acute‐phase hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐specific T cell responses associated with self‐limited and persistent HBV infections, we compared a patient with acute HBV/HCV coinfection, who was able to control HCV but developed chronic hepatitis B, with patients who resolved acute HBV infection spontaneously. Acute‐phase CD4 responses were efficient in self‐limited infections but undetectable in the coinfected patient with HBV persistence. CD8 responses were multispecific irrespective of the outcome of infection, but the CD8 repertoire associated with HBV persistence lacked the most dominant specificities detectable in self‐limited infections. In conclusion, insufficient CD4 help and defective CD8 repertoire may play a role at the early stages of infection in influencing HBV persistence. (HEPATOLOGY 2005.)