Some people who have hepatitis B don't even know they have it. They don't get any symptoms and the infection eventually goes away. But a few people get a serious infection that can last their whole lifetime.

Even if you don't feel ill, you can pass the virus on to other people.

Hepatitis damages your liver and can stop it from working properly.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Department of Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Response, World Health Organization.
Hepatitis B.
2002. World Health Organization. Available at http://dosei.who.int (accessed on 24 July 2007).

 

 

 

 

 

¹ There are several viruses that can cause different types of hepatitis. Each type of hepatitis is named after the virus that causes it. The most common types of hepatitis are hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. In this section we are just looking at hepatitis B. We have another section about hepatitis C.

The hepatitis B virus is carried in the blood (and other body fluids, such as saliva, semen and urine) of people who are infected. You can get infected with hepatitis B when body fluids from a person who is infected get into your body.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
World Gastroenterology Organisation.
WGO-OGME practice guideline: hepatitis B vaccination.
November 2002. Available at http://www.omge.org/globalguidelines/guide06/guideline6.htm (accessed on 24 July 2007).

 

 

 

 

 

²

You are most likely to catch hepatitis B if you come into contact with blood from someone who is infected. You can get hepatitis B if you:

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Department of Health.
Immunisation against infectious diseases - the Green Book.
2006. Available at http://www.dh.gov.uk (accessed on 24 July 2007).

 

 

 

 

 

³

Another way hepatitis B can be passed on is that a pregnant woman with hepatitis B can pass it on to her baby.

But you do not get hepatitis B through things like hugging or shaking hands with someone who has hepatitis B, or by eating food that has been made by someone with hepatitis B.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
World Gastroenterology Organisation.
WGO-OGME practice guideline: hepatitis B vaccination.
November 2002. Available at http://www.omge.org/globalguidelines/guide06/guideline6.htm (accessed on 24 July 2007).

 

 

 

 

 

²

In the United States it is very rare to get infected from a

 

 

 

 

 

blood transfusion
If you've lost too much blood from your body, you may need a blood transfusion to replace it. People with diseases of their blood, like sickle cell anemia, sometimes need blood transfusions to replace blood that doesn't work right.

 

 

 

 

 

blood transfusion. This is because blood from donors is checked for the hepatitis B virus.

If you have hepatitis B you can pass the virus on to other people, even if you feel well. There are things you should do to reduce the chance of this happening. For more information, see What should I do if I have hepatitis B?

Some people are more likely to get hepatitis B than others. For example, you are at a higher risk of getting hepatitis B if you inject illegal drugs or if you are a health care worker. For more information, see Reducing your risk of catching hepatitis B.

There is a vaccine that can protect you against hepatitis B. For information about whether you should get the vaccine, see Am I at risk of getting hepatitis B?

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