What Can Cause Hepatitis B

Treatment For Chronic Infection

Treatment for hepatitis B does not cure hepatitis B but works to delay or even to prevent complications from developing, like liver damage and ‘scarring’ of the liver . People with chronic hepatitis B usually need treatment to stop or to reduce the activity of the virus, so limiting liver damage. A liver specialist will usually advise on when treatment may be beneficial. There are two types of treatment currently given:

• Interferon. This medicine is similar to a substance produced in your body, which is also called interferon. It works to fight infections by boosting your immune system. Interferon is usually given as an injection each week.
• Antiviral medicines. These work by stopping the hepatitis B virus from multiplying in the body. They include lamivudine, adefovir, tenofovir, and entecavir. Your doctor will discuss these in more detail with you, as the medicine used can vary between people. A combination of antiviral medicines is sometimes used.

Treatment with medicines is usually continued for many years.

Side-effects with these medicines can occur. You will be monitored regularly while you are taking treatment, which includes blood tests. Some people need to change their medicines, or take a lower strength, if they have troublesome side-effects. Also, in some people, resistance can develop to their treatment medicine, which means that it does not work so well. If this happens then it is likely you will have to change the medicine you take.

Whats The Prognosis For Hepatitis B

Your doctor will know youâve recovered when you no longer have symptoms and blood tests show:

• Your liver is working normally.
• You have hepatitis B surface antibody.

But some people don’t get rid of the infection. If you have it for more than 6 months, youâre whatâs called a carrier, even if you donât have symptoms. This means you can give the disease to someone else through:

• Unprotected sex
• Contact with your blood or an open sore
• Sharing needles or syringes

Doctors donât know why, but the disease does go away in a small number of carriers. For others, it becomes whatâs known as chronic. That means you have an ongoing liver infection. It can lead to cirrhosis, or hardening of the organ. It scars over and stops working. Some people also get liver cancer.

If youâre a carrier or are infected with hepatitis B, donât donate blood, plasma, body organs, tissue, or sperm. Tell anyone you could infect — whether itâs a sex partner, your doctor, or your dentist — that you have it.

Show Sources

CDC: âHepatitis B Questions and Answers for Health Professionals,â âHepatitis B Questions and Answers for the Public.â

Mayo Clinic: âHepatitis B.â

UpToDate: âHepatitis B virus: Screening and diagnosis.â

CDC.

HealthyPeople.gov: âHepatitis B in Pregnant Women: Screening.â

Annals of Internal Medicine: âScreening for Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Nonpregnant Adolescents and Adults: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement.â

How To Help Stop The Spread Of Hepatitis B

There are several things you can do to help stop the spread of this disease. Please follow these instructions until your doctor tells you the child with hepatitis is completely well:

• Good hand washing by all family members must be done. Hands should be washed using soap and warm water before meals, after using the bathroom and before preparing or serving food.
• Wash your hands after caring for your child. You may have come in contact with the hepatitis B virus from such things as changing diapers, cleaning up vomit, or exposure to blood.
• Wear disposable gloves when handling blood . Wash your hands after removing the gloves.
• Hepatitis B can be spread by sexual activity. Not having sex is the best way to keep Hepatitis B from being spread sexually. If an infected person has sex, a condom should be used every time. Condoms should be used until the doctor says there is no longer any risk of spreading the disease.
• All family members who are not infected should get Hepatitis B vaccines .

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Chronic Hepatitis B Complications

Chronic hepatitis B can lead to

• cirrhosis, a condition in which scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue and prevents your liver from working normally. Scar tissue also partly blocks the flow of blood through the liver. As cirrhosis gets worse, the liver begins to fail.
• liver failure, in which your liver is badly damaged and stops working. Liver failure is also called end-stage liver disease. People with liver failure may require a liver transplant.
• liver cancer. Your doctor may suggest blood tests and an ultrasound or another type of imaging test to check for liver cancer. Finding cancer at an early stage improves the chance of curing the cancer.

Eating Diet And Nutrition For Hepatitis B

If you have hepatitis B, you should eat a balanced, healthy diet. Obesity can increase the chance of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease , and NAFLD can increase liver damage in people who have hepatitis B. Talk with your doctor about healthy eating and maintaining a healthy weight.

You should also avoid alcohol because it can cause more liver damage.

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Is Hepatitis B Contagious

Hepatitis B is highly contagious. It spreads through contact with infected blood and certain other bodily fluids. Although the virus can be found in saliva, its not spread through sharing utensils or kissing. It also doesnt spread through sneezing, coughing, or breastfeeding. Symptoms of hepatitis B may not appear for 3 months after exposure and can last for 212 weeks. However, you are still contagious, even

To screen for hepatitis B, your doctor will perform a series of blood tests.

Undercooked And Raw Shellfish

Shellfish are animals that filter the water from their surroundings. Because of this, they can become contaminated with hepatitis A virus if they are grown in polluted waters. To be safe, cook shellfish thoroughly before eating it. Undercooked shellfish like oysters, mussels, and clams may harbor and transmit hepatitis A. You may prefer the taste of raw oysters, but cooked shellfish really is safer. Protect your health and skip the raw oyster bar.

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How Do You Know If You Have Hepatitis B

The only way to know if you have hepatitis B is bya medical exam. There are several blood tests yourhealth care provider can use to diagnose hepatitis B.These tests can tell you:

• If it is an acute or a chronic infection
• If you have recovered from infection
• If you are immune to hepatitis B
• If you could benefit from vaccination

What Is Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is caused by a virus that infects the liver. It is one of the most common vaccine-preventable diseases affecting travellers and can cause either acute or chronic infection.

About 90 to 95 percent of adults with acute hepatitis B infection will clear the virus on their own within six months, and develop lifelong protection against it.

Some people are unable to clear the virus, and develop chronic hepatitis B. Untreated chronic hepatitis B can later develop into serious health problems. Children under four years old are at particular risk of chronic hepatitis B, because only up to 10% will clear the virus.

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Treatment Options For Hepatitis B

Acute hepatitis B usually doesnt require treatment. Most people will overcome an acute infection on their own. However, rest and hydration will help you recover.

Antiviral medications are used to treat chronic hepatitis B. These help you fight the virus. They may also reduce the risk of future liver complications.

You may need a liver transplant if hepatitis B has severely damaged your liver. A liver transplant means a surgeon will remove your liver and replace it with a donor liver. Most donor livers come from deceased donors.

Immunisation For Hepatitis B

Immunisation is the best protection against hepatitis B infection. A course of vaccination is recommended for all babies and people in high-risk groups.

Immunisation can be with a vaccine against hepatitis B alone or with a combination vaccine. To be immunised, contact your doctor or local council.

Protection against hepatitis B is available free of charge under the National Immunisation Program Schedule. In Victoria, immunisation against hepatitis B is free for:

• Babies at birth immunisation against hepatitis B alone as soon as possible after birth.
• Babies at 2, 4 and 6 months combination immunisation in the form of a diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine .
• Premature babies at 12 months premature babies born under 32 weeks gestation or under 2,000g birth weight receive a single booster dose.
• Children up to and including 9 years of age.
• People aged less than 20 years having a catch-up immunisation.
• Refugees and humanitarian entrants aged 20 years and above.

In Victoria, free hepatitis B vaccine is provided for people who are at increased risk of infection, including:

Immunisation is also recommended, but not necessarily free, for people who are at increased risk of infection, including:

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Can Hepatitis B Be Prevented Or Avoided

The best way to prevent hepatitis B is to always have protected sex and, if you use intravenous drugs, avoid sharing needles.

A vaccine is available to prevent hepatitis B. It is now routinely given in the first year of life to all newborn infants. It is safe and requires 3 shots over a 6-month period. This vaccine should be given to people who are at high risk for this illness, such as healthcare workers, all children, people who travel to areas where the infection is widespread, drug users, and those who have multiple sex partners.

What Are The Symptoms Of Hepatitis

For the specifics, go to the leaflets of the individual types of hepatitis linked above. The illness varies depending on the type of hepatitis, and may be mild or very severe. Symptoms will also depend on whether the illness is acute or chronic. Common symptoms include:

• A yellow tinge to the skin or eyes .
• Feeling tired.
• Muscle or joint aches and pains.
• Tummy .
• Darker-coloured urine and pale-coloured stools.
• Headache.

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What Increases Your Risk

People who have certain behaviours or certain jobs are at high risk for becoming infected with hepatitis B.

Job risk factors include:

• Handling blood or body fluids as a routine part of your job. This includes health care workers, such as doctors, dentists, nurses, and blood and lab technicians, and students in these jobs. It also includes morticians and embalmers.
• Being an employee or resident of an institution for people who have developmental disabilities.
• Being an employee or inmate of a prison.

Lifestyle risk factors include:

• Being born in, or travelling to, parts of the world where hepatitis B is common or where a large number of people have been infected for a long time. Such areas include Southeast and Central Asia, the islands of the South Pacific, the Amazon River basin, the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and China.
• Being a man who has sex with men.
• Being sexually active. This includes having unprotected sex with someone who is infected with the virus or whose sexual history is unknown to you.
• Having more than one sex partner.
• Living with someone who has a chronic hepatitis B infection.
• Getting body piercings or tattoos from someone who doesn’t sterilize his or her equipment.
• Sharing needles or other equipment to inject illegal drugs.

Other factors include:

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Hepatitis B And Pregnancy

If youâre pregnant, you might pass the virus to your baby at birth. Itâs less likely to happen during your pregnancy.

If your baby gets the virus and isnât treated, they could have long-term liver problems. All newborns with infected mothers should get hepatitis B immune globulin and the vaccine for hepatitis at birth and during their first year of life.

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How Common Is Hepatitis B

The number of people who get this disease is down, the CDC says. Rates have dropped from an average of 200,000 per year in the 1980s to around 20,000 in 2016. People between the ages of 20 and 49 are most likely to get it.

About 90% of infants and 25-50% of children between the ages of 1-5 will become chronically infected. In adults, approximately 95% will recover completely and will not go on to have a chronic infection.

As many as 1.2 million people in the U.S. are carriers of the virus.

How Is It Transmitted

Hepatitis B is highly infectious, and is spread from one person to another through exposure to infected blood and body fluids . It can be spread through:

• blood transfusions or organ transplantation in countries where blood or blood products have not been properly screened for hepatitis B and other viruses transmitted through blood
• unprotected sex with an infected person
• sharing needles or equipment for injecting drugs
• unsterilized medical/dental equipment and shared/contaminated materials or equipment used for tattooing, body piercing or acupuncture
• sharing toothbrushes or razors
• childbirth
• household contact between family members

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What To Think About

• Interferons have common side effects, including fever, headaches, and hair loss. They may also cause mental problems or make them worse.
• If you have cirrhosis, you cannot use interferons. But you can use adefovir, entecavir, lamivudine, telbivudine, and tenofovir.
• After any kind of treatment for hepatitis B, the virus may become active again .

If I Am Infected How Can I Prevent Passing On The Virus To Others

If you have a current hepatitis B infection you should:

• Avoid having sex with anyone until they have been fully immunised and checked with a blood test to see that the immunisation has worked.
• Not share any injecting equipment such as needles, syringes, etc.
• Not donate blood or semen or carry a donor card.
• Not share razors, toothbrushes, etc, that may be contaminated with blood.
• Cover any cuts or wounds with a dressing.
• Make sure that, if any of your blood spills on to the floor or other surfaces following an accident, it is cleaned away with bleach.

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What Causes Hepatitis B

The hepatitis B virus causes hepatitis B. The hepatitis B virus spreads through contact with an infected persons blood, semen, or other body fluids. Contact can occur by

• being born to a mother with hepatitis B
• having unprotected sex with an infected person
• sharing drug needles or other drug materials with an infected person
• getting an accidental stick with a needle that was used on an infected person
• being tattooed or pierced with tools that were used on an infected person and werent properly sterilized, or cleaned in a way that destroys all viruses and other microbes
• having contact with the blood or open sores of an infected person
• using an infected persons razor, toothbrush, or nail clippers

You cant get hepatitis B from

• being coughed on or sneezed on by an infected person
• drinking unclean water or untreated water that has not been boiled
• eating food that is unclean or has not been properly cooked
• hugging an infected person
• shaking hands or holding hands with an infected person
• sharing spoons, forks, and other eating utensils
• sitting next to an infected person

Mothers who have hepatitis B can safely breastfeed their babies. If a baby receives hepatitis B immune globulin and starts receiving the hepatitis B vaccine to prevent hepatitis B infection shortly after birth, hepatitis B is unlikely to spread from mother to child through breastfeeding.15

What Happens After A Hepatitis B Infection

Some people carry the virus in their bodies and are contagious for the rest of their lives. They should not drink alcohol, and should check with their doctor before taking any medicines to make sure these won’t cause more liver damage.

Anyone who has ever tested positive for hepatitis B cannot be a blood donor.

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When To Call The Doctor

• The child has not felt hungry or wanted to eat in the past 24 hours.
• Your childs fever is over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit for more than 2 days.
• Your child has a stomachache.
• Your child vomits more than 2 times in an hour.
• Your child’s skin or the white part of the eyes turns yellow.
• Your child is overly tired for more than 2 days.

Who’s Most At Risk Of Hepatitis B

People at highest risk of hepatitis B include:

• people born or brought up in a country where the infection is common
• babies born to mothers infected with hepatitis B
• people who have ever injected drugs
• anyone who has had unprotected sex, including anal or oral sex particularly people who have had multiple sexual partners, people who have had sex with someone in or from a high-risk area, men who have sex with men, and commercial sex workers
• close contacts, such as family members, of someone with a long-term hepatitis B infection

The risk of getting hepatitis B for travellers going to places where the infection is common is generally considered to be low if these activities are avoided.

Your GP can arrange for you to have a blood test to check for hepatitis B and have the hepatitis B vaccination if you’re at a high risk.

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Reduce Your Chance Of Infection

You can reduce your chance of hepatitis B infection by

• not sharing drug needles or other drug materials
• wearing gloves if you have to touch another persons blood or open sores
• making sure your tattoo artist or body piercer uses sterile tools
• not sharing personal items, such as toothbrushes, razors, or nail clippers
• using a latex or polyurethane condom during sex