Hepatitis B can cause a liver infection. Children who get hepatitis B could have a chronic infection for the rest of their lives, which is very bad for their liver. That is why babies receive 3 vaccinations before their first birthday, so they are protected against a hepatitis B infection.
Hepatitis B (HBV) in summary
| How the virus is spread | From your mother at birth, through sexual contact, or from contaminated blood |
|---|---|
| Common symptoms | Tiredness, flu-like symptoms, yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice) |
| Serious symptoms | Liver infection, liver cancer, death |
| Which vaccinations protect against this disease? | DTaP-IPV - Hib - HBV vaccination |
Symptoms of hepatitis B
In many cases, you may not even notice that you have hepatitis B. You may feel tired, have flu-like symptoms, or have muscle aches. Your skin may also turn yellow. Sometimes the liver is so severely inflamed that you could develop other symptoms or even die. You usually get better on your own, but the disease can become chronic, especially in children. In chronic hepatitis B, the viral infection does not go away and the liver remains inflamed. Since people do not always have symptoms from chronic hepatitis B, this inflammation can persist for years. However, the chronic infection can cause permanent liver damage and increases the risk of liver cancer.
How does hepatitis B spread?
Children can get hepatitis B from their mother at birth. This is only possible if the mother already has hepatitis B. In addition, you can get HBV through infected blood or sexual contact. You cannot get the virus by talking to an infected person or shaking hands. But you can get it by sharing a razor with contaminated blood on it, for example, or by sharing a toothbrush with someone who has hepatitis B. Sex workers and people working in healthcare have a higher risk of exposure.
Vaccination can protect you against hepatitis B. Read more about the DTaP-IPV-Hib-HBV vaccination or read how vaccination works.
Babies whose mother has hepatitis B
All pregnant women in the Netherlands are tested for hepatitis B. If a mother has chronic hepatitis B, then her child will the first vaccination as soon as it is born, and will also receive antibodies against hepatitis B. The child will get the following vaccinations at the well-baby clinic. Once a child has had all the vaccinations, the chances of getting hepatitis B are very low.
In most adults (90-95%) and a low percentage of children (10%), hepatitis B goes away on its own. Once you have had an infection, you cannot get hepatitis B again. But in some adults (5-10%) and most children (90%), hepatitis B becomes chronic. Their liver remains inflamed and they can continue to infect others. People with chronic hepatitis B are given antiviral medication to minimise serious liver damage. If the liver is severely damaged, the only treatment that will help is a liver transplant. If a person does get liver cancer due to hepatitis B, there is a major risk that they will die of it.
As a result of the vaccinations, cases of hepatitis B are dropping in the Netherlands.
- In 2000, about 300 people were diagnosed with acute hepatitis B.
- Since 2015, the number of new cases of hepatitis B has hovered around 100 a year.
- On average, 40,000 people in the Netherlands have chronic hepatitis B.
Babies in the Netherlands almost never get the disease from their mothers anymore. This is due to the blood test during pregnancy and the heel prick after the baby is born.