Listeriosis

Epidemiology Corner

October 7, 2005

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B infection causes inflammation of the liver. This inflammation can lead to severe liver damage such as cirrhosis of the liver (scarring), liver cancer, liver failure and death. Hepatitis B is caused by a DNA virus that occurs worldwide and affects all age groups. This virus is found in the blood and body fluids of infected people and can be spread through sexual contact, the sharing of needles, razors or toothbrushes and from mother to infant during birth. Hepatitis B is not spread through water, food or casual contact.

The body’s natural defenses will often fight off the virus and a person can develop immunity to it. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 2-10 percent of adults infected with hepatitis B will become chronically infected as carriers. This means that they remain infectious to others. There are over a million carriers of the hepatitis B virus in the U.S. with an estimated 300,000 people contracting the virus each year.

In 2004, the Houston Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of pidemiology received 1,827 reports of hepatitis B. These reports include newly acquired cases, chronic carriers and immunity resulting from past (resolved, non-infectious) infections or successful vaccinations. Of these cases, 88 were confirmed to be newly acquired.

Some signs and symptoms of newly acquired hepatitis B are fatigue, mild fever, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes) and dark urine. You can protect yourself against hepatitis B through vaccination and avoidance of high risk activities. To be fully protected by the vaccine, three injections are required. All three doses provide immunity for 10 and possibly up to 20 years.

For more information on hepatitis B visit the Centers for Disease Control website at www.cdc.gov/az.do#H.

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