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HCET Home > On-line Training > Addressing Hepatitis in Women > 6. Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Infection
6. Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Infection
What is HBV?
| Hepatitis B is another one of the many hepatitis viruses causing inflammation of the liver. Ninety – 95% of adults with HBV infection clear the infection and maintain lifelong immunity. The remaining 5 – 10% develop chronic hepatitis and may develop cirrhosis or cancer of the liver and may infect other people. | Click below
 Hepatitis B Virus photo |
Clinical Features of HBV (13)
- Average: 60 – 90 days
- Range: 45- 180 days
- <5 years: <10%
- >5 years: 30 – 50%
- 0.5-1%
- <5 years: 30 – 90%
- >5 years: 2 – 10%
- 15 – 25%
| Incubation Period | |
| Clinical Illness (jaundice) | |
| Acute Case-Fatality Rate: | |
| Chronic Infection | |
| Premature Mortality from
Chronic Liver Disease |
HBV is 100 times more infectious than HIV and can live outside the body for several days to weeks. It is estimated that 1.25 million Americans are chronically infected with 20-30% acquiring their infection in childhood. (13)
Prevention methods exist that can greatly reduce the rate of transmission and infected newborns are likely to develop lifelong infection. Annually, 22,000 pregnant women in the U.S. are infected with HBV and can potentially transmit the virus to their newborns (9). Therefore, this is why HBV testing should be part of routine testing for all pregnant women.
The annual incidence rate has declined from an average of 260,000 in the 1980s to about 78,000 in 2001. The highest rate of disease occurs in 20-49-year-olds and the greatest decline has happened among children and adolescents due to routine hepatitis B vaccination.
Signs and Symptoms of HBV (13)
Many people, especially children, have no signs or symptoms. If symptoms do occur they may include:
- Jaundice
- Fatigue
- Abdominal pain
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea, vomiting
- Joint pain
Transmission of HBV (13)
HBV can be spread:
- When blood or bodily fluids from an
infected person enter the body of a person who is not immune
- Through having unprotected sex with an
infected person
- By sharing needles for any reason (injecting drugs, tattooing, piercing, becoming “blood bothers”)
- Through needle-sticks or sharps exposures
- From an infected mother to her baby
Individuals at Risk of HBV Infection (13)
Individuals are at high risk for infection if they:
- Have multiple sex partners (>10 lifetime partners)
- Have been diagnosed with an STI
- Have sexual contact with infected persons
- Inject drugs or share needles for any reason
- Have household contact with infected persons
- Work in healthcare or public safety
- Are hemodialysis patients
- Are persons with parents born in Southeast Asia, Africa, the Amazon Basin in South America, the Pacific Islands, and the Middle East
Children at Risk of HBV Infection (14)
Infants born to infected mothers are at high risk for acquiring disease and appropriate measures should be taken to reduce the chance that the child will be infected. Prevention measures include:
- Screening all pregnant women, regardless of risk
- If the pregnant woman was not screened, making sure the baby receives the “birth dose” of HBV vaccine which may help prevent infection if exposed
- Infants exposed to HBV by an infected mother should receive:
- HBIG plus the hepatitis B vaccine within l2 hours of birth, and
- Two additional doses of vaccine at one and 6-12 months of age.
- HBIG plus the hepatitis B vaccine within l2 hours of birth, and
For more information about Hepatitis B and pregnant mothers, go to:
-
Hepatitis B and You for pregnant women and new moms in PDF
format - Find the hepatitis coordinator in your state
Prevention of HBV (13, 15)
- Vaccination
- Hepatitis B vaccine is the best protection and provides protection against HBV for 15 years and possibly much longer. The CDC recommends that all newborns, infants, and 11 and 12-year-olds be vaccinated. If we vaccinate people before they become sexually active, most infections in the US would be avoided. This has been the standard for some time and many young people have been protected by this targeted approach.Who should be vaccinated? - All infants and children
- High risk adults
- Professionals who could come into
contact with someone else’s blood
Initiatives to identify and vaccinate high-risk adults are currently underway. Health clinics that serve sexually active clients, such as family planning clinics, are an ideal location for vaccinating those who need it most.
For more information about immunizations for adults and children, including HAV and HBV, go to:
- Practice safer sex
- An individual that has more than one sex partner within six months should consider vaccination and use condoms. - Don't share needles
- Injection drug users should never share needles, cocaine straws, or any drug paraphernalia. - Don’t share personal items
- No one should share anything that could have an infected person's blood on it (e.g., toothbrush, razor, nail clipper, body piercing instruments). - Handle blood spills correctly
- If there is a blood spill, even a small one, wear gloves and clean it up with a 100% bleach (believed to kill the virus) or a biohazard cleaning supply. - Tattoos or body piercing
- A person might get infected if the tools, needles or ink wells have someone else's blood on them. - Don’t donate blood if living with HBV
- Individuals living with HBV should not donate blood, organs, or tissue.
Diagnosing HBV must be done by a blood test designed to look for antibodies to HBV. Reading the results can be very confusing to say the least.
We love this “job aide” to help decipher HBV test results! -
Interpretation of the Hepatitis B Panel
Although there is no treatment for acute HBV, treatment is available for chronic hepatitis B. About 35% of patients treated with injections of interferon for four to six months will have a long-term response and possibly be able to completely clear the virus from the body. Treatment can be costly and side effects may be severe. People with chronic infection should be followed by a physician that specializes in liver disease, even if they choose not to be treated with medication. Early detection of liver impairment is essential to long term survival.
For more information about HBV, go to:
