Immunization - Preventable Diseases

What is Hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. It can lead to severe illness, a lifelong infection, scarring (cirrhosis) of the liver, liver failure and even death. Hepatitis B virus is a common cause of liver cancer. It is spread easily from one person to another by blood and other body fluids.

Each year in the United States, more than 240,000 people get infected, more than one million people carry the hepatitis B virus in their blood, and about 5,000 people die from hepatitis B.

If a baby is born to a mother who has the virus in her blood, the baby needs to start shots at the time of birth to keep from becoming a carrier. If the baby does not get the shots starting at birth, the baby is very likely to carry the virus for the rest of his/her life.

Last Updated: 5/5/00

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