You cannot catch hepatitis B from a towel, doorknob, or toilet seat. She may be nauseated or have a mild fever, or she may experience vomiting, abdominal pain, or pain underneath the right ribcage where the liver is. Hepatitis B can also cause jaundice, which is a yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes, and may cause the urine to appear brownish or tea-colored. A person who has been exposed to hepatitis B may have symptoms 1 to 5 months later. Some people with hepatitis B don't notice symptoms until they become quite severe.
Some people have few or no symptoms.
Even when a person with hepatitis B doesn't notice any symptoms, she can still transmit the disease to others. Some people continue to carry the virus in their bodies and are contagious for the rest of their lives. Hepatitis B can be very dangerous to a person's health, leading to liver damage and an increased risk of liver cancer. Ninety percent of babies born to women who have HBV will have the virus unless they receive special immune injections and the first dose of vaccine at birth. Health care professionals wear gloves at all times when in contact with blood or body fluids, and are usually required to be immunized against the HBV virus.