Here is more than you ever wanted to know about Hepatitis B. Hope this helps you. I urge you to visit the Hepatitis B Foundation Website. Click on the module for an interactive course on Hep B.
Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Although most people exposed to the virus recover completely, chronic infections can lead to severe liver damage, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer and death.
How is hepatitis B transmitted?
Hepatitis B virus is spread by contact with body fluids of an infected person. These body fluids include blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and saliva. In about 30-40% of cases, the means of transmission is not known.
What is the risk of hepatitis B?
There are approximately 80,000 new cases of hepatitis B infection each year in the United States. About 90-95% of adults recover from hepatitis B in a few months, clearing the virus from their systems and developing immunity. They will never get hepatitis B again: however, blood tests will always show that they were once infected, and blood centers will not accept donated blood from these individuals. Up to 10% of young adults who get the disease become carriers 鈥?as many as 1.25 million Americans are hepatitis B carriers. Carriers are people who have the virus in their blood and can infect others, even though they do not feel sick and have no obvious signs or symptoms of hepatitis B.
People infected with hepatitis B who are unable to clear the infection from their bodies in six months are chronically infected with hepatitis B. The younger the person when infected, the greater the risk that the disease will become chronic. Chronic hepatitis B means that the virus is in the blood, infecting liver cells and possibly damaging them. Chronic hepatitis B can lead to cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, liver failure and/or death. An estimated 5,000 people die each year of chronic liver disease associated with HBV infection.
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