Hepatitis B infection is a serious disease.
 
Hepatitis B means infection of the liver by the hepatitis B virus (HBV).
 
Hepatitis B is one of the major diseases of mankind and is a serious global health problem. Of the 2 billion people who have been infected with HBV, more than 350 million have chronic (lifelong) infections.
 
These chronically infected persons are at high risk of death from cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer, diseases that kill about 1 million each year.

Hepatitis B virus is transmitted when blood from an infected person enters the body of a person who is not infected.
 
Transmission may occur under ordinary situations of daily living such as:

• through an HBV-infected mother to her baby around the time of birth
• through sexual contact with an infected person
• through injections or injuries with contaminated material
• by transfusion of contaminated blood or transmission with contaminated blood derivatives.

HBV is 50 to 100 times more infectious than human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It only takes .0001 ml of body fluid contaminate another person.

Sometimes a person with HBV infection has no symptoms at all.
 
The older you are, the more apt you are to have the symptoms. You might be infected with HBV (and be spreading the virus) and not know it.
 
A blood test can tell for sure if you have hepatitis B.
 
If you have symptoms, these might include:

• jaundice ( yellow skin or yellow discoloration of the sclerae- white area of the eyes)
• tiredness
• loss of appetite
• nausea
• abdominal discomfort
• dark urine
• clay-colored bowel movements
• joint pain

HBV can cause acute and chronic hepatitis.
 
Acute - infection is terminated 6 months after onset of immune response. There is no increased risk of chronic liver diseases. Acute infection is short term. It lasts no more than 6 months by definition. It can be terminated because there is an adequate immune response to the virus. The body is able to fight the virus.
 
Infected persons may also experience symptoms like malaise, fatigue and jaundice but they will get over it after a period of months.
 
When 6 months is over and all liver tests are back to normal, the blood can be tested and noticed that the virus is gone.
 
Chronic - Infection persists for years. There’s an increased risk of chronic liver diseases, cirrhosis, liver cancer and eventually can cause death.
 
The chances of becoming chronically infected depend upon age when one acquired the infection.

• 90% of infected neonates
• 30% of children infected at age of 1-5 years
• 6% of persons infected after age of 5 year

Yes. The only way to ensure protection from hepatitis B is through vaccination.
 
This is the first vaccine against a major human cancer.
 
Hepatitis B vaccine has an outstanding record of safety and effectiveness. Since 1982, over 1 billion of doses of hepatitis B vaccine have been used worldwide.

Yes. Hepatitis B vaccine has been shown to be safe when administered to both adults and children.
 
However, a vaccine, like any medicine, is capable of causing serious problems such as, severe allergic reactions.
 
People should not get hepatitis B vaccine if they have had a life threatening allergic reaction to baker's yeast (the kind used for making bread) or to a previous dose of hepatitis B vaccine. The recombinant vaccines are synthesized by Sacccaromyces cerevisiae (common baker’s yeast)
 
People who are moderately or severely ill at the time the shot is scheduled should usually wait until they recover before getting hepatitis B vaccine.

The vaccination schedule most often used for adults and children have been three intramuscular injections; the second and third dose is administered 1 and 6 months after the first.
 
Booster doses of hepatitis B vaccine are not recommended routinely for persons who are not immune compromised. Data show that the vaccine-induced anti-HBs levels might decline over time, however, immune memory remains intact indefinitely following immunization. Immune competent people with declining antibody are still protected against clinical illness and chronic disease.

Immediately consult a doctor, preferably a Gastroenterologist or an Infectious Diseases Specialist for further evaluation and medical advice. They can help ascertain with analysis of the clinical symptoms and test results whether the infection is acute or chronic and also the condition of the liver.
 
There are available medications that they may prescribe for the treatment of chronic HBV infection.
 
Discuss with the doctor how you can best prevent transmitting the disease to others.