Most adults fight off infection with the hepatitis B virus. However, there are one million people in this country who are infected with chronic hepatitis B, and it is estimated that 15 to 25 percent of these people will die as a result the complications associated with chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus. As with hepatitis A, the symptoms of infection with the hepatitis B virus often resemble the flu, and include loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, fever, fatigue and abdominal pain. However, almost half of all people infected with the hepatitis B virus have no recognizable symptoms. The danger of being asymptomatic with hepatitis B is that it enables the virus to progress relatively unnoticed for long periods of time.
Many people first learn that they have hepatitis only after donating blood.
Blood tests conducted during routine physical exams check for a number of diseases, but not specifically for viral hepatitis. These tests may detect liver damage, but too often such warning signs go undetected. The hepatitis B virus is primarily transmitted through sexual contact, but can be transmitted through several other means. For example, healthcare workers exposed to blood infected with the hepatitis B. virus. Hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a slowly progressing disease that may gradually advance over time and can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and even death.