“Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver; it can be acute or chronic. Having chronic hepatitis B can increase your risk of developing liver failure, liver cancer or cirrhosis — a condition that causes permanent scarring of the liver”. (© 1998-2014 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved.) “In the United States, approximately 1.2 million people have chronic Hepatitis B. Unfortunately; many people do not know they are infected. The number of new cases of Hepatitis B has decreased more than 80% over the last 20 years. An estimated 40,000 people now become infected each year”.(http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/hbv/pdfs/hepbgeneralfactsheet.pdf) Many experts believe this decline is a result of widespread vaccination of children when the liver cannot remove harmful toxins from the blood, fight infection, also help digest food, store important nutrients and vitamins a person is not capable of living without a liver. Hepatitis B infection may be either short-lived (acute) or long lasting (chronic). Acute hepatitis B infection lasts less than six months. Your immune system likely can clear acute hepatitis B from your body, and you should recover completely within a few months. Most people who acquire hepatitis B as adults have an acute infection, but it can lead to chronic infection. Chronic hepatitis B infection lasts six months or longer. When your immune system can't fight off the acute infection, hepatitis B infection may last a lifetime, possibly leading to serious illnesses such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. The younger you are when you get hepatitis B — particularly newborns or children younger than 5 — the higher your risk the infection becoming chronic. Chronic infection may go undetected for decades until a person becomes seriously ill from liver disease.
Hepatitis B can be transmitted through having unprotected sex, sharing needles with an infected person and getting a piercing or tattoo using unsterilized tool. Sharing personal item such as razors or a toothbrush with an infected person can transmit the virus as well. A mother can pass the virus on to her unborn child during delivery. You cannot get hepatitis B from casual contact such as hugging, kissing, sneezing, coughing, or sharing food or drinks. An environmental factor that can make someone vulnerable could be an infant born to a mom that is infected. Some signs and symptoms of the disease hepatitis B, ranging from mild to severe, usually appear about one to four months after you've been infected. Signs and symptoms of hepatitis B may include: Abdominal pain, dark urine, fever, joint pain, loss of appetite, vomiting and jaundice.
Blood tests can determine if you have the virus in your system and whether it's acute or chronic. Your doctor might also want to remove a small sample of your liver for testing such as a liver biopsy to determine whether you have liver damage.
The good point about hepatitis B is that is you found you could potentially have been exposed to the virus you may have options. If you haven't been vaccinated or aren't sure whether you've been vaccinated or whether you responded to the vaccination, receiving an injection of hepatitis B immune globulin within 12 hours of coming in contact with the virus may help protect you from developing hepatitis B. Treatment depends on how active the virus is in your body and your chance of liver damage. The goal of treatment is to stop liver damage by keeping the virus from multiplying. Antiviral medicine is used if the virus is active and you are at risk for liver damage. Medicine slows the ability of the virus to multiply. Antiviral treatment isn't given to everyone who has chronic hepatitis B. If you develop advanced liver damage and your condition becomes life-threatening, you may need a liver transplant. But not everyone is a good candidate for a liver transplant. Hepatitis B can be controlled, prevented and “cured” on some levels if caught in time. The key is to be proactive and not reactive to any disease, especially preventable ones. There are shots available for:
All infants, beginning at birth
All children 18 years old or younger who have not been vaccinated previously
Sex partners or household contacts of individuals who are HBsAg positive
Sexually active people who are not in long-term, mutually monogamous relationships (for example, more than one sex partner during the previous six months)
Anyone seeking evaluation or treatment for a sexually transmitted infection
Men who have sex with men
Injection drug users
People with hepatitis C virus and other chronic liver diseases
People with jobs in which there is a risk of infection (such as emergency medical technicians, doctors and nurses)
Residents and staff of facilities for developmentally disabled individuals
Travelers to regions with moderate or high rates of HBV infection
Hemodialysis patients
People living with HIV (http://www.hepmag.com/articles/2511_18749.shtml)