The hepatitis B virus, also known as HBV, can be transmitted from an infected person to another individual through blood, semen or other bodily fluids. HBV infects the liver, causing inflammation that may or may not produce symptoms during the acute phase--the first six months--of the disease. Those patients experiencing symptoms notice them within two to three months of exposure, and often describe them as mild. Most adult patients, approximately 95 percent according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recover within six months and the virus clears completely from their bodies. On the other hand, the disease becomes chronic--lasting more than six months--in approximately 90 percent of infected infants and 25 to 50 percent of infected children ages 1 to 5 years. Although these patients have no symptoms for many years, the damage to their livers continues.
Flu-Like Symptoms
The body responds to a hepatitis B infection by sending out special cells to fight the infection, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, but these cells also cause inflammation of the liver. Some patients complain of flu-like symptoms, including tenderness in the right upper abdomen where the liver is located, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, joint pain, muscle soreness, and fever.
Jaundice
When the liver becomes inflamed due to a hepatitis B infection, it is not able to process and dispose of old red blood cells efficiently. The level of bilirubin, a byproduct of red blood cell processing, rises in the body instead of being excreted in the stool, causing a yellow pigment that colors the skin and the whites of the eyes in some patients. Clay-colored bowel movements often accompany jaundice.
Liver Complications
Chronic hepatitis B infection may not be detected for decades, until the patient becomes seriously ill from liver disease. About 25 percent of patients infected during childhood and 15 percent of those who become infected after childhood die prematurely of cirrhosis--scarring of the liver--or liver cancer.
Hepatitis D
Only patients infected with the hepatitis B virus are susceptible to hepatitis D. Hepatitis D is uncommon in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Having both infections increases the severity of hepatitis B side effects and complications.
Kidney Disease
The effects of hepatitis B virus on the kidneys varies with the age of the patient, notes Dr. Gerald Appel, author of a report published in the May 2007 issue of the "Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine." Children are more likely to have short-term kidney involvement, but their recovery rate is higher. In adults, kidney involvement is likely to progress to long-term kidney disease and, in some cases, kidney failure.
Blood Vessel Inflammation
Rarely, hepatitis B infection can cause a form of vasculitis, or inflamed blood vessels, called polyarteritis nodosa, according to the Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center. Multiple systems of the body can be affected, including the skin, nerves, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, heart, eyes and genitals. Without treatment, nearly all affected patients die within two to five years.
References
- Mayo Clinic: Hepatitis B
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Hepatitis B
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Hepatitis B
- Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine: Viral Infections and the Kidney--HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Hepatitis B FAQs For Health Professionals
