Hepatitis B virus infects the liver and causes an inflammation called hepatitis. It is a DNA virus and one of many unrelated viruses that cause viral hepatitis. The disease, originally known as "serum hepatitis",[1] has caused epidemics in parts of Asia and Africa, and it is endemic in China and various other parts of Asia.[2] About a third of the world's population, more than 2 billion people, have been infected with the hepatitis B virus.[3] This includes 350 million chronic carriers of the virus.[4] The acute illness causes liver inflammation, vomiting, jaundice and - rarely - death (Appx 1800). Chronic hepatitis B may eventually cause liver cirrhosis and liver cancer - a fatal disease with very poor response to current chemotherapy.[5]
The infection is preventable by vaccination.
How is Hepatitis B spread?
Hepatitis B is spread when blood, semen, or other body fluid infected with the Hepatitis B virus enters the body of a person who is not infected.
People can become infected with the virus during activities such as:
Birth (spread from an infected mother to her baby during birth)
Sex with an infected partner
Sharing needles, syringes, or other drug-injection equipment
Sharing items such as razors or toothbrushes with an infected person
Direct contact with the blood or open sores of an infected person
Exposure to blood from needlesticks or other sharp instruments
