Hepatitis B Information

Hep B

How do people catch it?

Hepatitis B can be passed on in the following ways:

·         During sex with an infected partner.

·         From an infected mother to her newborn baby during delivery.

·         Users of injected drugs can infect others through sharing needles.

·         By sharing contaminated needles or other drug injecting equipment.

·         Through a blood transfusion in a country where blood is not tested for hepatitis B virus. All blood in the UK is tested.

If you have had other types of hepatitis, you can still get hepatitis B. People who have had hepatitis B but haven't recovered fully can remain infectious all their lives.

Symptoms

People may have no symptoms at all but can still pass on the virus to others.

Symptoms can include:

·         itchy skin

·         weight loss

·         a short, mild flu-like illness

·         jaundice (yellow skin and eyes)

·         loss of appetite

·         nausea and vomiting

·         diarrhoea.

It is possible to have contracted hepatitis B and not have symptoms for many years until it develops into long-term disease.

Complications

Hepatitis B can cause long term infection that leads to liver disease. This can lead to death from liver cancer or cirrhosis.

How dangerous is Hep B?

Hepatitis B is particularly likely to cause long term infection in babies and children.

It is not known how many people are infected in the UK, but in some cities up to 1 in 100 women who visit antenatal clinics have been found to carry hepatitis B.

Prevention is better than cure

There is a vaccine against hepatitis B. It contains a killed part of the hepatitis B virus and is given in three doses.

All pregnant women are offered screening for hepatitis B. If found to be carriers, or to have acute hepatitis B during pregnancy, their babies are given hepatitis B vaccine starting at birth and hepatitis B immunoglobulin if recommended.

People at high risk of infection with hepatitis B, such as healthcare workers, are also offered the vaccine.

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