Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A can cause a person to feel sick for several months. However, almost all people fully recover from the disease and do not develop any serious liver damage. Hepatitis A can sometimes be fatal in persons over the age of 50 and/or with other liver diseases, such as hepatitis B or C.

Hepatitis B

A person infected with the hepatitis B virus (also called HBV) runs a significant risk of serious liver damage by cirrhosis, liver failure and/or liver cancer.

Without early detection and treatment:

• 25 percent of people infected with hepatitis B die from liver cancer or cirrhosis.
• Some of these people develop cancer by age 30.
• Every year, approximately one million people worldwide die from hepatitis B because they are diagnosed with the disease too late.

One of the biggest dangers of hepatitis B is that it can be a silent killer. Many people infected with the hepatitis B virus have no symptoms—they feel perfectly healthy—until it is too late. However, these people can pass the disease on to others, and they, themselves, remain at risk for the complications of the disease. The only way to know for sure if you have hepatitis B is to get tested.

Learn how you can get the potentially lifesaving hepatitis B test.

Why is hepatitis B such a big issue among Asians and Pacific Islanders?
It’s a simple case of statistics. Half of the known carriers of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in the United States are people of Asian and Pacific Island descent. In some Pacific Rim countries, as many as 10 percent to 20 percent of the population are hepatitis B carriers.

How can I keep from passing Hepatitis B on to my child during birth?
If you have hepatitis B, there is no way to avoid exposing your child during the time of birth. However, if your baby receives hepatitis B immunoglobulin and the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 12 hours of birth—as well as two follow-up hepatitis B vaccines—there is a 98% chance that he or she will be protected against the disease. Your baby will need to have the other two doses of the hepatitis B vaccine at ages 2 months and 6 months. This vaccine is free for children under 19 years of age through the federal Vaccines for Children program.

If you are pregnant or of childbirth age, it is important for you to have a hepatitis B test. Learn how you can get this potentially lifesaving hepatitis B test.

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is the most common reason for liver transplantation in the United States. Chronic hepatitis C can lead to serious liver damage, failure, cancer, and death.

According to the Center for Disease Control, of every 100 people infected with the Hepatitis C virus, about

• 75–85 people will develop chronic Hepatitis C virus infection; of those,
• 60–70 people will go on to develop chronic liver disease
• 5–20 people will go on to develop cirrhosis over a period of 20–30 years
• 1–5 people will die from cirrhosis or liver cancer

Similar to hepatitis B, hepatitis C can be a silent disease with no symptoms until serious liver damage has occured. People infected with chronic hepatitis C should be regularly monitored by an experienced doctor. There are effective treatments available for most people.

^{1 Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Viral Hepatitis
2 Source: Asian Liver Center at Stanford University
3 Source: Hepatitis B Foundation}