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Hepatitis is a disease of the liver, characterized by inflammation. Hepatitis can cause your liver to stop functioning and may lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer, both of which may cause severe illness or death. There are several types of hepatitis, but hepatitis B is caused by the hepatitis B virus, or HBV for short, and it is considered a sexually transmitted disease, because it is transmitted from one person to another through blood and other bodily fluids. It can also be transmitted via needles shared by intravenous drug users, or contaminated needles used for steroids and tattooing. You can be protected from the hepatitis B virus by receiving a series of immunizations. The Centers for Disease Control now recommends vaccination for everyone, beginning in infancy, to prevent infection with the virus later on.
Symptoms
After exposure to the hepatitis B virus, you may not experience any symptoms for months. A teenager with hepatitis B may feel tired and achy and have no appetite. She may be nauseated, have a mild fever and experience vomiting and abdominal pain. Hepatitis B can also cause jaundice, which is a yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes, and it may cause the urine to appear tea-colored or very dark.
Treatment
If you think you may have been exposed to HBV, your health-care provider may prescribe hepatitis B immune globulin, an injection which can prevent infection if given within 24 hours. Most people who do develop hepatitis B just need to rest and make sure their condition is followed by their doctor, and their condition improves in a few months. For those few people who don't fully recover but who develop so-called chronic hepatitis B, doctors may prescribe antiviral medications to help manage the disease. Depending on the extent of liver damage, these few patients may ultimately require a liver transplant.
Considerations
A diagnosis of hepatitis B means that you need to take especially good care of your liver. For example, your doctor will probably recommend that you avoid drinking alcohol and that you take any medications only after clearing it with her.
