Hepatitis B Fact Sheet

CLINICAL FEATURES
Jaundice
Fatigue
Abdominal pain
Loss of appetite
Intermittent nausea
Vomiting

ETIOLOGIC AGENT
Hepatitis B virus

INCIDENCE
140,000-320,000 infections/year in United States
70,000-160,000 symptomatic infections/year

SEQUELAE
Of symptomatic infections, 8400-19,000 hospitalizations/year and 140-320 (0.2%)
deaths/year; Of all infections, 8,000-32,000 (6%-10%) chronic infections/year, and 5,000-6,000 deaths/year from chronic liver disease including primary liver cancer

PREVALENCE
Estimated 1-1.25 million chronically infected Americans

COSTS
Estimated $700 million (1991 dollars)/year (medical and work loss)

TRANSMISSION
Bloodborne
Sexual
Perinatal

RISK GROUPS
Injection drug users
Sexually active heterosexuals
Men who have sex with men
Infants/children of immigrants from disease-endemic areas
Low socioeconomic level
Sexual/household contacts of infected persons
Infants born to infected mothers
Health care workers
Hemodialysis patients

SURVEILLANCE
National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System
Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Program
Sentinel Counties Studies

TRENDS
Incidence increased through 1985 and then declined 55% through 1993 because of wider use of vaccine among adults, modification of high-risk practices, and possibly a decrease in the number of susceptible persons. Since 1993, increases observed among the three major risk groups: sexually active heterosexuals, homosexual men, and injection drug users.

PREVENTION
Hepatitis B vaccine available since 1982
Screening pregnant women and treatment of infants born to infected women
Routine vaccination of infants and 11-12 year olds
Catch-up vaccination of high-risk groups of all ages
Screening of blood/organ/tissue donors