About hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is caused by a virus. If you get infected with this virus, the virus travels through your blood to your liver, where it causes inflammation.

Hepatitis B is more common in  in developing countries that don’t have immunisation programs. If you aren’t immunised and travel to these places, you can be at risk of getting hepatitis B.

How hepatitis B spreads

Hepatitis B spreads through blood-to-blood contact – that is, when people come into contact with the blood of someone who has the virus.

This can happen if you:

• share needles during drug use
• come into contact with a discarded needle
• get a tattoo or body-piercing with a dirty needle
• share toothbrushes, razors or other things like that
• have sex without using condoms.

Because hepatitis B is passed on through blood-to-blood contact, it’s also possible for a pregnant woman to pass the virus onto her baby during pregnancy, almost always around the time of birth. Usually these women have chronic hepatitis B without symtoms.

Hepatitis B symptoms

The hepatitis B virus usually infects people a few months before any symptoms appear.

Children with hepatitis B can have very few obvious symptoms. They might have no symptoms at all, which sometimes makes hepatitis B hard to diagnose.

When there are symptoms, they might come on gradually and include:

• loss of appetite and energy
• stomach pain (especially over the upper right side where the liver is) and vomiting
• fever
• jaundice
• rash
• dark urine and changes in poo colour
• painful or swollen joints.

Does your child need to see a doctor about hepatitis B?

If your child has any of the above symptoms, or if you think you or your child might have come into contact with the hepatitis B virus, see your doctor.

Tests for hepatitis B

If the docto thinks that your child’s symptoms might be caused by hepatitis B, your child will need blood tests to confirm the diagnosis.

Sometimes children need ultrasounds of their livers.

Complications and treatment for hepatitis B

Some children will get over the virus without treatment. But younger children are much more likely than adults to develop chronic hepatitis B – that is, to carry the virus for a long time. This can put them at risk of future liver failure and liver cancer.

There are some special anti-viral medications for chronic hepatitis B. Health professionals might consider prescribing them for older children and teenagers, especially when it looks like the child might have liver damage.

If your child’s symptoms are severe, she might need to be admitted to hospital. This is quite unusual.

Hepatitis B prevention: immunisation

The best way to avoid hepatitis B is to have your child immunised. If the vaccine is included in the routine immunization programme it is given soon after birth and 2 additional doses at the next several months.

Hepatitis B prevention: pregnancy and breastfeeding

If a pregnant woman has hepatitis B, she might be given medicine to reduce the chance of passing the virus on to her baby. At birth, the baby might also get a special injection of antibodies against hepatitis B, as well as the standard hepatitis B immunisation.

Women who have hepatitis B can safely breastfeed unless their nipples are cracked or bleeding.

Extra hepatitis B prevention measures for all children and teenagers

Hepatitis B can also be transmitted through exposure to infected blood.

If your child comes into contact with a used needle, use soap and water to wash your child’s skin where the contact happened. Then see your doctor . The risk of getting hepatitis B from this kind of contact is very low.

Your child should not share toothbrushes, razors or other items that belong to someone who has hepatitis B, because these things might be contaminated with infected blood.