05/22/26 Public Health Education Topic: Hepatitis B Perinatal
- Health Department
- May 22
- 1 min read
Per CDC:
Key points
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in a pregnant patient poses a serious risk to an infant at birth.
HBV infection in infants can lead to long-term serious health effects if left untreated.
Perinatal transmission of HBV infection is preventable.
Vaccination is the best way to prevent HBV infection.
About Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is a vaccine-preventable liver infection caused by HBV. HBV is transmitted when blood, semen, or another body fluid from a person infected with the virus enters the body of someone who is uninfected.
Hepatitis B can range from a mild, short-term, acute illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, long-term, chronic infection.
Signs and symptoms
Many people infected with hepatitis B virus won’t experience symptoms. If symptoms occur during acute infection, they often begin 90 days after exposure. Although the symptoms of acute HBV infection and chronic HBV infection may be similar, most people with chronic infection do not have symptoms until much later in life, often decades after exposure.
Remember
You can have hepatitis B even if you don't have any symptoms.
Symptoms of hepatitis B include:
Dark urine or clay-colored stools
Feeling tired
Fever
Joint pain
Loss of appetite
Nausea, stomach pain, throwing up
Yellow skin or eyes (jaundice)
Learn more about hepatitis B symptoms.
Resources:
To learn more visit: Hepatitis B Basics | Hepatitis B | CDC
