Hepatitis B and your Child

As the parent of a newborn, you are naturally anxious to learn about childhood diseases and what you can do to help protect your child. Your CMP Provider wants to make you aware of one very serious disease that may occur during childhood or later in life: Hepatitis B. This disease can potentially cause long-term liver disease and can even cause liver cancer.

Although there are other types of hepatitis, hepatitis B is one of the most serious types. Hepatitis B is a disease that affects the liver and is caused by the hepatitis B virus. In the United States, there are about 300,000 new cases of hepatitis B infection each year. Children and adults who have hepatitis B may not look or feel sick at all when they become infected. Some may develop a mild, flu-like illness. Others, though, become very ill and feel extremely tired, develop jaundice (yellow skin and eyes), have dark urine, suffer abdominal and joint pain, and may require hospitalization. Fortunately, most people recover fully from hepatitis B infections, but some people who never fully recover and carry the virus in their blood for a lifetime. This is known as chronic hepatitis B infection. These people are hepatitis B carriers.

Currently, there are about one million chronic hepatitis B carriers in the United States who are "infectious," or capable of spreading the disease to others throughout their lives. All run the risk of developing life-threatening liver disease, cirrhosis, or liver cancer. About 5,000 people a year die from liver disease caused by hepatitis B.

While anyone can get hepatitis B, children who are infected with the hepatitis B virus are more likely than adults to develop the chronic-carrier state of the disease. The younger a child is when infection occurs, the more likely it is that the child will become a carrier. In fact, more than 90% of infants who get the hepatitis B virus from their infected mothers at birth become chronic carriers and have lifelong infection. Among children who become infected before the age of 5 years, 30 to 60% of adults who get the disease become chronic carriers. Also, it is estimated that about 25% of infants who become chronic carriers ultimately will die of liver disease, cirrhosis, or liver cancer.

The hepatitis B virus is found in the blood or in other body fluids of infected persons. The hepatitis B virus is transmitted in several ways:

	A child being born of a mother who carries the hepatitis B virus
	Living in the same household as someone who is a chronic carrier
	Having a job that involves exposure to human blood
	Having sex with an infected person
	Sharing needles for injecting drugs

Vaccines that can help protect your child from hepatitis B infection are available. Your CMP Provider has a plan to protect your child (See 1st Year Schedule.) For more information about the benefits and risks of having your child vaccinated got to Hepatitis B.

See also the article on Hepatitis B Vaccine

**Information courtesy of U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the Center for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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