What is Hepatitis B?
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. Every year in the United States several thousand new cases of hepatitis B are diagnosed.
Hepatitis B virus can also cause a rapid overwhelming infection of the liver, a long-term liver disease, called cirrhosis, and liver cancer. Indeed, young infants infected with hepatitis B virus are more likely to develop cirrhosis than older children or adults. Every year in the United States thousands of people die from the complication of hepatitis B virus infections.
What is my child’s risk of getting hepatitis B infection?
A common misconception is that hepatitis B virus is spread only by sexual contact among adults. The reality is that children can also catch hepatitis B virus in other ways:
- Mothers who are infected with hepatitis B virus can pass the infection onto their babies at birth.
- Infants and young children living in a home with someone who is infected can catch hepatitis B. The virus can be spread by toothbrushes, washcloths or hand towels that contain minute, even invisible, quantities of blood from someone who is infected.
- Infants and young children exposed to someone outside the home who is infected (for example, a playmate, relative or family friend) can catch hepatitis B. Because most people infected with hepatitis B virus don’t have any symptoms, they often don’t know that they are infected.
Two features of hepatitis B infection make it particularly dangerous.
- First, some people who are infected, particularly young children, do not experience symptoms, so they do not know they have the virus until they experience diseases associated with long-term liver infections.
- Second, people with long-term hepatitis B infections have such high quantities of virus in their blood that they can unwittingly pass it to others who are exposed to very small quantities of their blood. Up to 2 million people in the United States are infected with hepatitis B virus and can spread the infection to other, including young children.
When is the hepatitis B vaccine given?
All newborns should receive the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours after birth.
What are Hepatitis B symptoms?
Most people who catch hepatitis B virus don’t have any symptoms. Some have loss of appetite, vomiting, nausea, fatigue and jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin).
Does the Hepatitis B vaccine cause any reactions?
The hepatitis B vaccines can cause pain, redness and tenderness at the site of the shot. Rarely, the hepatitis B vaccine causes fever.
The hepatitis B vaccine can also rarely cause a severe hypersensitivity (allergic) reaction. The reaction occurs in about 1 of every 600,000 people given the vaccine. Symptoms include hives, rash or low blood pressure and usually occur withing 30 minutes of receiving the vaccine.