Hepatitis B virus (HBV)

	Hepatitis B is a virus infecting the liver that spreads through sharing infected syringes or unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
	There were approximately 80,000 new hepatitis B infections in the U.S. in 1998, down from 450,000 in the early 1980s before an effective vaccine became available.(1)
	Most people recover from hepatitis B within six months and afterward develop immunity. Some 6 percent of the people who get hepatitis B remain contagious for the rest of their lives and develop chronic liver disease, with all its attendant problems.(2)
	About 15 to 25 percent of chronically infected persons die from liver disease.  Hepatitis B is responsible for an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 deaths each year due to cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) and liver cancer.(2)

Footnotes

(1) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2001. "National Hepatitis Awareness Month -- May 2001" May 18, vol. 50. no. 19. page 399.

(2) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2001. Viral hepatitis B 

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