What’s hepatitis B?
I’ve heard of hepatitis B, but I don’t know what it is. How can you catch it, and is there a cure?
answer:
Well, the bad news is that hepatitis B is a scary sexually transmitted disease. But the good news is that it’s the only STD that can be prevented with a vaccine.
Hepatitis B is transmitted the same way the AIDS virus is—by way of contaminated body fluids that come in contact with your blood, most often through sexual intercourse or shared needles—but hepatitis B is much more contagious. Possible symptoms include extreme fatigue, headaches, fever, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, dark urine, tenderness in the lower abdomen, and jaundice. But as many as half the people who have hepatitis B don’t have any symptoms, which means they can be passing it without knowing. Most of those who are infected manage to fight off the illness naturally (it gradually fades away). However, in rare cases, hepatitis B can cause serious liver disease that, as of now, has no cure or treatment. (You shouldn’t confuse this with hepatitis A, which is transmitted through the feces of an infected person or by contaminated food and water, and is treatable.)
If you’re sexually active, ask your doctor about the hepatitis B vaccine. It’s safe, effective, and absolutely worth getting. If it means one less thing to worry about in your life, who can argue with that?
Email This Post
