There are an estimated 140,000 to 320,000 new HBV infections each year in the United States. Risk of transmission from blood transfusion is currently low in the United States since blood banks screen donated blood that appears to be infected. HBV is not spread through food or water or by casual contact.
Many adults have few or no symptoms.
Rash or arthritis may occur during the prodromal or early acute stage. Your health care provider can confirm HBV by using a special blood test to detect HBV particles or antibodies in the blood. If your health care provider thinks you may have chronic HBV, other tests, like ultrasound or liver biopsy, may be needed. A person has a job that exposes them to human blood. Babies born to infected mothers should get blood tests at aged 9 to 15 months to be certain that the vaccine worked well and that the mother did not pass HBV to her baby during birth.