How much do you know about Hepatitis and how much do you REALLY need to know?
How many people in the U.S. are estimated to have chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C?
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 3.5-5.3 million people in the U.S.—constituting 1-2 percent of the population—are living with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C infection.
What is the frequency of chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection worldwide?
Worldwide, about one out of every 12 people (480-520 million people) are infected with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C.
What disease does chronic hepatitis frequently lead to?
Hepatitis B and hepatitis C cause liver diseases. Chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C infections can result in liver cirrhosis and a type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma.
How many deaths worldwide are caused by hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections each year?
Hepatitis B and C cause nearly 1 million deaths each year worldwide. Chronic viral hepatitis is a silent killer. Without testing for infection, many people are not aware that they are infected until symptoms of advanced liver disease appear. Advanced liver cancer has a five-year survival rate of less than five percent.
How is hepatitis B transmitted?
Transmission of the hepatitis B virus occurs primarily though birth to an infected mother, sexual contact with an infected person, and sharing of contaminated needles, syringes, and other injection drug equipment.
Is there a vaccine for hepatitis B?
There is a hepatitis B vaccine. In the U.S., universal infant immunization, routine screening of pregnant women, and catch-up vaccination of unvaccinated children and adolescents has resulted in a dramatic reduction in hepatitis B in children. However, despite those efforts, about 1,000 infants born to women with hepatitis B still become infected each year because they do not receive a birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.
Who is at risk for hepatitis C?
Transmission of the hepatitis C virus occurs primarily through sharing of contaminated needles, syringes, and other injection drug equipment.
Is there a vaccine for hepatitis C?
No vaccine to prevent hepatitis C has been licensed.