Hepatitis B can also cause a chronic active or persistent hepatitis in drug users. It is found in about a third of those who injected heroin in Australia in the 1980s. Like hepatitis C, it is often a sub-clinical illness, but it can also occur as a serious, acute infection with profound fatigue, jaundice, weight loss and fever. This can also lead to cirrhosis, chronic liver failure and, in rare cases, cancer. Although liver failure can now be treated successfully with organ transplantation, the rare liver cancer called hepatoma is usually fatal.
Immunisation is protective.
This was due to a co-ordinated strategy including the availability of syringes, methadone treatment and an education campaign. Methadone is relatively safe during pregnancy. While it is desirable for all pregnant women to be drug free, the risks of heroin use are very high, and easily outweigh any theoretical drawbacks of methadone. This is in addition to the risks of overdose, viral infections, thrombosis and social consequences. Studies have shown that the majority of babies born to women on methadone are healthy.