Hepatitis B epidemiology and demographics
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor In Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]
Epidemiology and Demographics
Hepatitis B is caused by a virus that attacks the liver. The virus, which is called hepatitis B virus (HBV), can cause lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. In 2003, an estimated 73,000 people were infected with HBV. People of all ages get hepatitis B and about 5,000 die per year of sickness caused by HBV. HBV is spread when blood from an infected person enters the body of a person who is not infected. Healthcare personnel who have received hepatitis B vaccine and developed immunity to the virus are at virtually no risk for infection. For a susceptible person, the risk from a single needlestick or cut exposure to HBV-infected blood ranges from 6-30%. The annual number of occupational infections has decreased 95% since hepatitis B vaccine became available in 1982, from >10,000 in 1983 to <400 in 2001.