Hepatitis
B
Key facts
·
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver,
causing both acute and chronic disease.
·
The virus is transmitted through contact with the blood or
other body fluids of an infected person - not through casual
contact.
·
About 25% of adults who become chronically infected during
childhood later die from liver cancer or cirrhosis (scarring of the
liver) caused by the chronic infection.
·
Hepatitis B virus is an important occupational hazard for
health workers.
·
Hepatitis B is preventable with a safe and effective
vaccine.
Frequency
·
In China, an estimated 93 million people have been
infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV).
Treatment
·
There is no specific treatment for acute hepatitis B. Care
is aimed at maintaining comfort and adequate nutritional balance,
including replacement of fluids that are lost from vomiting and
diarrhea.
·
Chronic hepatitis B can be treated with drugs, including
interferon and anti-viral agents, which can help some patients.
Treatment can cost dozens of thousands of RMB per year and is not
affordable to everyone.
·
Patients with cirrhosis are sometimes given liver
transplants, with varying success.
·
Liver cancer is almost always fatal, and often develops in
people at an age when they are most productive and have family
responsibilities.
Prevention
·
All infants should receive the hepatitis B vaccine: this
is the mainstay of hepatitis B prevention.
·
The vaccine is given in three separate doses, as part of
existing routine immunization schedules. In China, the first dose
of vaccine should be given as soon as possible after birth (i.e.
within 24 hours).
·
The complete vaccine series induces protective antibody
levels in more than 95% of infants, children and young adults.
Protection lasts at least 20 years and should be
lifelong.
·
All children and adolescents younger than 18 years old and
not previously vaccinated should receive the vaccine. In China,
from 2009 to 2011, the Government will provide the vaccine free of
charge for all children under 15 years of age who have not yet been
vaccinated.
·
The vaccine has an outstanding record of safety and
effectiveness. Since 1982, over one billion doses of hepatitis B
vaccine have been used worldwide. In China, vaccination has reduced
the rate of chronic infection to less than 1% among immunized
children under 5 years age.