Hepatitis B

What hepatitis B is

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. It spreads through blood, sex, or from a mother to her baby at birth. It does not spread through casual contact such as hugging, sharing food, or coughing.

Some people clear the virus after a short illness. When it stays for more than six months, it is called chronic hepatitis B. Chronic infection often causes no symptoms for many years, but it can scar the liver. Advanced scarring is called cirrhosis.

A vaccine can prevent hepatitis B. It does not treat an infection that is already there.

Symptoms and complications

Many people feel nothing. When changes do appear, a person may notice:

• Tiredness
• Nausea or poor appetite
• Fever or aching joints
• Pain or discomfort under the right ribs
• Dark urine
• Yellow skin or eyes
• Swelling of the belly or legs
• Confusion or unusual sleepiness

Yellow skin, swelling, and confusion are more often signs of advanced scarring. Vomiting blood, or black stools, needs emergency care. If you have urgent symptoms, call 911 or go to an emergency department.

Diagnosis and tests

Blood tests show whether the virus is present, how active it is, and whether the liver is irritated. The same tests are repeated over time.

Ultrasound and stiffness tests, such as FibroScan, help show scarring. Imaging is also used to watch for liver cancer in people who need that check.

Your family doctor arranges imaging. A clinician reads the tests together, and no single result sets a treatment plan on its own.

Treatment and management

Not everyone with hepatitis B needs medicine. Regular blood tests, and imaging when it is needed, show whether the virus is damaging the liver.

Antiviral medicine is recommended for some people. It keeps the virus suppressed and lowers the chance of further damage. Treatment is often long-term. This page does not name a drug or a dose.

Alcohol can injure the liver further. Ask the clinician how much, if any, is reasonable.