Chronic hepatitis B infection
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A chronic hepatitis B infection is one that persists long-term - more than six months. Of those people who develop chronic hepatitis B infection:
- Up to 2 in 3 people remain well. You can have the virus in your body but develop no damage or problems to the liver or other organs. This is called being a 'carrier' and is sometimes called 'chronic inactive hepatitis B'. You may not know that you are infected and are a carrier. However, even if you have no symptoms, you can still pass on the virus to others who may then develop problems. For example, you may pass on the virus if you have sex or share needles for injecting drugs. About 1 in 5 carriers eventually clear the virus from their body naturally, but this may be after several years.
- Some people develop persistent liver inflammation (sometimes called 'chronic active hepatitis B'). Symptoms include: muscle aches, tiredness, feeling sick, lack of appetite, intolerance of alcohol, pains over the liver, jaundice, depression. Symptoms vary in severity and some people have liver inflammation without having any symptoms.
- Some people develop cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is like a 'scarring' of the liver which can cause serious problems, and 'liver failure' when it is severe. Cirrhosis usually takes many years to develop after being infected with hepatitis B.
- A small number of people who develop cirrhosis then develop liver cancer after a further period of time.
- A small number of people develop problems in other parts of the body. For example, the hepatitis B virus can sometimes cause kidney damage.
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