Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B can be prevented with a highly effective vaccine, but this year ten to thirty million people will become infected with the hepatitis B virus. I feel that because this disease is preventable, only knowledge can help reduce the number of people infected. Hepatitis B is a serious liver disease caused by the hepatitis B virus. This virus is a blood-borne pathogen. It is one hundred times more infectious than HIV. “Hepatitis B is one of the most frequently reported vaccine preventable diseases in the United States,” according to the Centers for Disease Control.

This disease is transmitted through oral, vaginal, and anal sex. You can also acquire the disease through sharing needles, toothbrushes, and razors, or if you come in contact with infected blood. For these reasons, the people at the highest risk of contracting the disease are: anyone who is sexually active; health, dental, and emergency workers; adoptive families with children form Asia, Africa, South America, Eastern and Mediterranean Europe (as these areas have a high number of people infected); drug users; and anyone in close contact with someone infected. This is not as scary as it seems, for you cannot contract the virus through sneezing, coughing, or holding hands.

A surprising fact about hepatitis B, considering it is preventable, is that one in twenty people are or will be infected in their lifetime. There are one million people infected in the United States. More than 350 million people worldwide are chronic carriers of the virus. A chronic