Hepatitis B is a viral infection. that attack liver and can cause both acute and chronic infection

1. Hepatitis B
W.D.R Nilantha Pushpakumara

2. Objectives
• To determine what is hepatitis B ?
• Transmission of hepatitis B virus
• To determine symptoms after infection of hepatitis B
• Preventive measures that can be taken to avoid
transmission

3. Content
➢ What is hepatitis B
➢ Epidemiology of hepatitis B
➢ Causes for hepatitis B
➢ Transmission of hepatitis B virus
➢ Common ways of hepatitis B transmission
➢ Symptoms
➢ Diagnosis
➢ Treatment
➢ Prevention

4. What is Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis B is a viral infection
• that attack liver and can cause both acute and chronic
diseases
• It is the most serious type of viral hepatitis
• Majority of patients with chronic HBV (CHB) infection will
have chronic liver disease
• Some with CHB infection develop a primary liver cancer,
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) later in life

5. Hepatitis B in the World
• Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global public health
problem
• 2 billion people have been infected
• It is estimated that there are 248 million HBV carriers in
the world (positive for hepatitis B surface antigen
[HBsAg])
• 1 million people die each year from hepatitis B and its
complications
• Approximately 2 people die each minute from hepatitis B

6. In Sri Lanka
• prevalence of HBV infection in Sri Lanka is estimated to be
less than 2%

7. What causes hepatitis B ?
• It is caused by hepatitis B Virus
• It is a DNA virus

8. Transmission of hepatitis B (HBV)
• The virus is highly contagious
• Transmitted through contact with the blood or other body
fluids of an infected person
• Hepatitis B virus can survive outside of the body for at
least 7 days
• It is an important occupational hazard for health care
workers

9. Concentration of Hepatitis B Virus in Various Body Fluids
High Moderate Low/Not detectable
Blood Semen Urine
Serum Vaginal fluid Faeces
Wound exudate Saliva Sweat
Tears
Breastmilk

10. Most common ways of hepatitis B
transmission include :
• Sexual contact
• Sharing of injecting equipment (used for injecting drugs)
• Needlestick injuries in a health care setting
• Reuse of unsterilized or inadequately sterilized needles
• Sharing personal items such as razors, toothbrushes, or hair
and nail clippers
• Perinatal Transmission
Congenital or Vertical transmission is quite common from
carrier mothers
The risk to babies is high if the mother is HBeAg positive (60-
90%) and low if Negative (5-15%)

11. Needle stick injury sharing injecting drugs

12. unsterilized tattooing
equipment
contamination vaccine
equipment
unsterilized body
piercing equipment

13. • Hepatitis B does NOT spread by contaminated food or water, and cannot spread
through casual or social contact such as kissing, sneezing or coughing, hugging, or
eating food prepared by a person with hepatitis B
High Risk Groups
• Injecting drug users
• Sex workers
• Men who have sex with men
• Medical and paramedical personnel
• People from endemic regions
• Hemophiliacs and other patients requiring blood and blood product
treatment

14. What are the symptoms
• Feeling very tired
• Mild fever
• Headache
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Abdominal pain
• Tan-colored bowel movements (stools)
• Dark urine
• Yellowish eyes and skin (jaundice). Jaundice usually appears only
after other symptoms have started to go away

15. • Hepatitis B can also cause a chronic infection
• This can later develop to cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma

16. Diagnosis
• Laboratory confirmation is essential
• Number of blood tests are available to diagnose and
monitor infected people
• These tests can distinguish between chronic and acute
infection
• Laboratory detection mainly focuses on detection of
Hepatitis B surface antigen
• All donated blood is screened for Hepatitis B

17. Treatment
• No specific treatment for acute Hepatitis B
• Maintaining comfort and adequate nutrition balance is
essential
• Chronic infection is treated with oral antiviral agents
• These medicines can slow the progression of cirrhosis,
reduce liver cancers and improve the life span

18. Prevention
To avoid transmission of hepatitis B:
• consider being vaccinated
• practice safer sex (use a condom)
• wash hands after touching blood or body fluids
• wear disposable gloves if giving someone first aid, or
cleaning up blood or body fluids
• avoid sharing toothbrushes, razors, needles, syringes,
personal hygiene items and grooming aids or any object
that may come into contact with blood or body fluids

19. • Use new and sterile injecting equipment for each
injection
• Cover all cuts and open sores with a band aid or bandage
• Wipe up any blood spills and then clean the area with
household bleach
• Throw away personal items such as tissues, menstrual
pads, tampons and bandages in a sealed plastic bag.