What is it?
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. It can be diagnosed by a blood test. The virus is present in body fluids such as blood, saliva, semen and vaginal fluid. It can be passed on easily through unprotected sex (vaginal, anal or oral), sharing sex toys, rimming and sharing injecting drug equipment or through a pregnant mother during childbirth.
We recommend and provide a vaccination for people who are particularly at risk of catching Hepatitis B sexually. This includes men who have sex with men, and those who may have a high-risk partner, pay or are paid for sex, had sex in high prevalence countries or an injecting drug user.
Symptoms
Many people who get Hepatitis B notice no symptoms or they are so mild that they may not realise they have it.
Sometimes after initial infection people may experience some symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, itchy skin, diarrhoea, extreme tiredness, stomach pain, jaundice (where your skin and the whites of your eyes turn yellow, your urine turns dark and your faeces (poo) turn pale) or mild flu like illness.
Symptoms can last several weeks, taking months to get back to normal.
Testing
You can be tested for Hepatitis if you think you may have been at risk. A blood test is used to diagnose Hepatitis B.
Treatment
Treatment for Hepatitis B depends on how long you’ve been infected for –
• If you’ve been exposed to the virus in the last few days, emergency treatment can help stop you becoming infected
• If you’ve only had the infection for a few weeks or months (acute Hepatitis B),
• You may only need treatment to relieve your symptoms while your body fights off the infection.
If you’ve had the infection for more than six months (chronic Hepatitis B), you may be offered treatment with medicines that can keep the virus under control and reduce the risk of liver damage.
Chronic Hepatitis B often requires long-term or lifelong treatment and regular monitoring to check for any further liver problems.
Long Term Effects
Most people make a full recovery from Hepatitis B but up to one in 20 become ‘Carriers’ with chronic (long-term) infection.
They usually feel fine but stay infectious to others, with a small risk of going on to develop liver disease. Around one in 100 people get a more serious illness which can be fatal if not treated immediately.