POSSIBLE SYMPTOMS:

• Yellowing of the skin or eyes (Called Jaundice)
• Fatigue
• Unusual abdominal pain
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Unexplained vomiting
• Joint pain

HIGH RISK FACTORS:

• Having multiple sex partners
• Having unprotected sex
• Being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease
• Using injected drugs
• Living in the same household as an infected person
• Infants that are born to infected mothers
• Children of immigrants from areas of high rates of Hepatitis B
• Health care and public safety workers who come in contact with bodily fluids as part of their job

For a few people (about 1% of all cases) Hepatitis B untreated can send them into liver shock and require serious medical assistance right away.  The best way to ensure that you don’t have it is to keep getting regular blood tests and take the steps to protect yourself to start with (See the “Treatments” Section).