Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is a serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver. The virus, which is called hepatitis B virus (HBV), can cause lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. You may have hepatitis B (and be spreading the disease) and not know it; sometimes a person with HBV infection has no symptoms at all. Only a blood test can tell for sure. Symptoms can include:

• eyes or skin turning yellow
• loss of appetite
• nausea, vomiting, fever, stomach or joint pain
• feeling very tired and not able to work for weeks or months

You get hepatitis B by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person; for instance, you can become infected by having sex or sharing needles with an infected person. A baby can get hepatitis B from an infected mother during childbirth. Hepatitis B is not spread through food or water or by casual contact. Your risk of getting the virus is higher if you were born in Southeast Asia or the Pacific Islands. Compared to the U.S. average this disease is 25 to 75 times more common among Samoans and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and China.

There are medications that can treat long-lasting HBV-infection. These work for some people, but there is no cure for hepatitis B. Hepatitis B vaccine is the best protection against HBV. These people should get the vaccine: all babies, at birth; all children 0-18 years of age who have not been vaccinated; persons of any age whose behavior puts them at high risk for HBV infection; persons whose jobs expose them to human blood. If you have HBV in your blood, you can give hepatitis B to your baby. Babies who get HBV at birth may have the virus for the rest of their lives, can spread the disease, and can get cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer. All pregnant women should be tested for HBV early in their pregnancy.