Expectations (prognosis)
The acute illness usually subsides after 2 to 3 weeks, and the liver usually returns to normal within 16 weeks. Some infected people develop chronic hepatitis. There is a higher incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in those who have had hepatitis B virus infection than in the general population. Hepatitis B is fatal in approximately 1% of cases of acute hepatitis B.
Complications
Calling your health care provider
Call your health care provider if symptoms of hepatitis B develop.
Call for an appointment with your health care provider if hepatitis B symptoms do not resolve in 2 or 3 weeks, or if new symptoms develop.
Call your provider if you belong to a high risk group for hepatitis B and have not yet been vaccinated against the disease. Remember that vaccination is safe and free of adverse effects.
Prevention
Screening of all donated blood has reduced the likelihood of contracting hepatitis B from a blood transfusion. As an initial screen, blood donors are now required to fill out a questionnaire about their sexual and drug use activities. The blood of those who are in high-risk groups is not used. Also, tests are used to screen collected blood for the hepatitis B virus.
Mandatory reporting of the disease allows state health care workers to track people who have been exposed and to immunize contacts that have not yet developed the disease. Formerly, hepatitis B vaccine was made from human blood products, so it was not received well by the public. Now hepatitis B vaccine is entirely artificial, with no human products, and therefore cannot transmit either hepatitis B or the AIDS virus. The new vaccine is both safe and effective. Those receiving the vaccine require three vaccinations administered within a six month period to achieve full immunity. Vaccination of babies has become routine in pediatric care in the US.
Sexual contact with a person who has acute or chronic hepatitis B should be avoided. Condoms, if used consistently and properly, may also reduce transmission through sexual contact. However, immunization provides the only definitive protection against the virus. Vaccination of those at high risk has been of only limited success. Therefore, the United States Public Health Service has recommended universal vaccination of all newborns and pre-pubertal teenagers.
Infants born of mothers who either currently have acute hepatitis B or who have had the infection receive a special immunization series to prevent viral transmission. This includes administering hepatitis B immune globulin and a hepatitis B immunization within 12 hours of birth.
References
Lin KW. Hepatitis B. Am Fam Physician. 2004; 69(1): 75-82.
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