It can be mild, without symptoms or it may cause chronic hepatitis and in some cases can lead to full-blown liver failure and death. Transmission of hepatitis B virus occurs through blood and body fluid exposure such as blood, semen, vaginal secretions, or saliva. Infants may also develop the disease if they are born to a mother who has the virus. Infected children often spread the virus to other children if there is frequent contact or a child has many scrapes or cuts. The symptoms of hepatitis C are usually mild and gradual.
Children often show no symptoms at all.
Transmission of hepatitis C occurs primarily from contact with infected blood, but can also occur from sexual contract or from an infected mother to her baby. Although hepatitis C has milder symptoms initially, it leads to chronic liver disease in a majority of people who are infected. With some cases of hepatitis C, no mode of transmission can be identified. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. Persons who are at risk should be checked regularly for hepatitis C. Persons who have hepatitis C should be monitored closely for signs of chronic hepatitis and liver failure. If an individual has hepatitis B and does not show symptoms or shows very mild symptoms, infection with D can put that person at risk for full-blown liver failure that progresses rapidly.