What to bring
to your appointment
Your name and contact details and questions about your sexual history.
Hepatitis B is a disease of the liver caused by a virus. It’s significantly more infectious than HIV and can be transmitted sexually. It’s not friendly and if it becomes chronic can cause liver damage including cirrhosis (scarring of the liver). If severe enough, it can cause death.
Hepatitis B is passed along through direct contact with body fluids belonging to a person with the virus. The virus is found in the following:
Infections can occur if any body fluids containing blood are in direct contact with mucous membranes, or openings in the skin (fresh cuts).
You will not get/pass on Hepatitis B from the following:
First and foremost, get vaccinated!
Symptoms aren’t always apparent, and around half the people infected don’t show any symptoms at all. When they do show, symptoms for hepatitis B include the following:
Sort of. About 90% of adults who get hep B clear the infection with their own immune systems and develop a lifelong immunity to it. Then there are the other 10% of people. If unable to clear the virus, they become chronic carriers and stay infected and infectious for life.
A person is much more likely to develop chronic hepatitis if they are in poor health, have a weak immune system or are very young at the time of infection. 1 in 10 adults develop chronic hepatitis while 9 in 10 babies infected with the virus become chronic carriers.
The best way to determine treatment for hepatitis B is to work with your health care provider and figure out what’s best for you. People with chronic hep B can live amazing, full lives. It’s just a matter of taking good care of oneself and getting regular checkups.
It is possible to pass on hepatitis B to a child during childbirth; however, the risk is relatively low when it comes to breastfeeding. Just avoid it if your nipples are cracked and bleeding. Breastfeeding can start up again when the nipples are healed.
Your physician can arrange for your baby to receive protection at birth, which may include an injection of hepatitis B immune globulin and the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. The baby will still require two more doses of vaccine to have lasting protection.
A blood test for the baby should be administered no sooner than a month after completing the vaccine series. This is done to see if the baby has developed protection against the virus.
So long as you are properly wearing a condom, sex should be ok. That said, it’s best to wait until your tests come back negative.