Hepatitis B

 

The hepatitis B virus is spread through blood, semen, and vaginal fluid. You can get hepatitis B if you have sex with an infected person, or if you share needles or works to inject drugs with someone who is infected.

As with hepatitis A, hepatitis B can make you feel sick for a short time. After that, most people with hepatitis B get rid of the virus. A small number (2% to 6%) of people who get hepatitis B infection fail to get rid of it, and go on to have chronic infection. This often leads to liver damage over time.

Once you have come into contact with hepatitis B, and the virus is no longer active in your body, you cannot become infected with it again.

There is a vaccine to prevent hepatitis B. People with a chronic liver disease should receive the vaccine to be protected from hepatitis B, unless they are already immune (determined by blood tests).

It is important that people with chronic liver disease who are not immune to hepatitis B receive the vaccine to protect themselves from it, since they can get quite sick if they contract the infection.

For much more information, please visit our Hepatitis B Center.
Latest Hepatitis News
Impressive Vertex hepatitis C drug data unveiled

November 1, 2008 - A closely watched hepatitis C treatment being developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc showed an impressive ability to knock out the virus in patients who failed other treatments and those not previously treated for the serious liver disease, data from mid-stage studies show.

U.S. hepatitis A vaccine rates vary widely

January 25, 2012 — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although about 85 percent of kids in two U.S. states have had a complete set of hepatitis A vaccines, overall just three in 10 have had both shots, according to a new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Device makers urge coverage of weight-loss surgery

January 25, 2012 — CHICAGO (Reuters) - Device manufacturers are pushing the U.S. government and health insurers to cover weight-loss surgery, an effort that could give millions more obese Americans access to the treatments.

Arsenic cancer risk still high decades later

January 24, 2012 — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People exposed to very high levels of arsenic in Chilean drinking water back in the 1950s and 60s are still showing a higher-than-normal risk of bladder cancer -- years after the arsenic problem was brought under control, a new study shows.

Select news items provided by Reuters Health