All these viruses cause similar problems, but are spread in different ways. So the ways to prevent people catching the disease are different too. This page is about hepatitis B. Related Hepatitis pages on the Public Health site. Some people who are infected with hepatitis B do not get very ill. Some do not get sick at all.
Children are more likely than adults to show no symptoms even if they are infected.
Most people who catch hepatitis B recover completely and do not get the disease again. But a few people become very ill, and some even die. Some people become 'carriers' of the hepatitis B virus. This means that the virus stays in their bodies for their whole lives. People who are carriers may eventually suffer illnesses such as liver cancer and chronic liver disease, but often they show no symptoms.