How do people get infected ?
Hepatitis B virus is transmitted by contact with blood or body fluids of an infected person in the same way as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS.
However, HBV is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV.
The main ways of getting infected with HBV are:
Perinatal (from mother to baby at the birth)
Child-to-child transmission
Unsafe injections and transfusions
Sexual contact
Worldwide, most infections occur from infected mother to child, from child to child contact in household settings, and from reuse of unsterilized needles and syringes. In many developing countries, almost all children become infected with the virus.
In many industrialized countries (e.g. Western Europe and North America), the pattern of transmission is different. In these countries, mother-to-infant and child-to-child transmission accounted for up to one third of chronic infections before childhood hepatitis B vaccination programmes were implemented. However, the majority of infections in these countries are acquired during young adulthood by sexual activity, and injecting drug use. In addition, hepatitis B virus is the major infectious occupational hazard of health workers, and most health care workers have received hepatitis B vaccine.
Hepatitis B virus is not spread by contaminated food or water, and cannot be spread casually in the workplace.
How is hepatitis B spread?
The hepatitis B virus is carried in the blood and other body fluids. It is usually spread by contact with blood in the following ways:
Through an unsafe injection or needle stick. Unsterilized needles or syringes can contain hepatitis B virus from an infected person, for example from a patient or a needle user.
Transmission of the virus by mothers to their babies during the birth process, when contact with blood always occurs.
Transmission between children during social contact through cuts, scrapes, bites, and scratches.
Transmission during sexual intercourse through contact with blood or other body fluids