Hepatitis B

What is hepatitis B?

The trigger for hepatitis B is a virus which damages the liver. The illness starts with a pain in the limbs, a fever, loss of appetite, nausea and sickness. This is then followed by jaundice. Jaundice is most commonly recognised by a discolouration of the eyes, dark urine and stools which are light in colour. These common signs only occur in 1 out of 3 people, meaning that the illness can go unnoticed. 1 in 10 people are affected by a lasting (“chronic”) illness and 1 in every 4 then suffer from cirrhosis or cancer of the liver at a later date. If an infant is infected with hepatitis B, this can lead to a lasting illness in 9 out of 10 cases.

Treatment involves medication to suppress the virus.

There are occurrences of hepatitis B across the globe but predominantly in tropical countries (Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, Oceania). It is transmitted through bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, semen or vaginal fluid. It is also possible to be transmitted by infected objects such as hypodermic needles, razor blades, toothbrushes and similar items. It takes 1 to 6 months from infection for signs of illness to appear.

Women infected with the virus will pass it on to their child during pregnancy or during birth. Vaccinating the baby directly after the birth can help to prevent the disease.

Vaccination advice for children

The hepatitis B vaccination is part of the free child vaccination programme in Austria. It is part of a six-part vaccination with diphtheria, tetanus, polio, pertussis and haemophilus influenzae type b.

Vaccination schedule

Vaccination schedule

First vaccination: At 3 months Second vaccination: At 4 – 5 months Third vaccination: At 12 – 14 months Fourth vaccination: At 8 – 15 years of age

Vaccinations for babies of women with hepatitis B:

1. Vaccination directly after the birth
2. Vaccination after 1 month and then the same process as all other children with the 6-part vaccination.

Vaccination advice for adults

• Sie sind bereits gegen Hepatitis B geimpft?
  Dann brauchen Sie im Normalfall keine weiteren Impfungen gegen Hepatitis B, außer Sie gehören einer Risikogruppe an (siehe unten).
• Sie sind noch nicht gegen Hepatitis B geimpft?
  Dann sollten Sie die Impfung jederzeit nachholen.

Vaccination schedule

First vaccination at any time Second vaccination after one month
Third vaccination after 6 to 12 months

Where necessary, there is also a fast-track vaccination schedule.

Special at-risk groups should check their level of protection with a blood test. Where necessary, you can have a booster vaccination.

Special at-risk groups should check their level of protection with a blood test. Where necessary, you can have a booster vaccination.

Zu diesen Risiko-Gruppen gehören:

• People who have come into contact with a person suffering of hepatitis B
• People with liver conditions
• People at a high risk of coming into contact with infected blood or other bodily fluids as a result of their profession, their behaviour or an illness.
• People travelling in countries where hepatitis B is more prevalent

Want to find out more about the hepatitis B vaccination? Not sure whether you’ve been vaccinated against hepatitis B? Do you fall into any of the at-risk groups?