1.What’s the difference between acute viral hepatitis and chronic viral hepatitis?

Acute viral hepatitis is a short-term, viral infection. Chronic viral hepatitis is a longer-lasting, and generally life-long, viral infection lasting at least six months. To find out if you have acute or chronic viral hepatitis, your doctor will do a medical evaluation that includes blood tests.

2.How is viral hepatitis diagnosed?

Through blood tests and a medical evaluation. There are different blood tests, depending on the type of viral hepatitis that the doctor thinks you have.

3.Is it safe to visit someone with hepatitis?

It is safe to visit someone with viral hepatitis. You cannot get hepatitis through casual contact. It is ok to shake hands with, hug, or kiss someone who is infected with any of the viral hepatitis types.

4.How does a pregnant woman pass hepatitis B virus to her baby?

During the birth, blood from the mother gets inside the baby’s body. A very small number of babies get infected while the infected mother is pregnant. There is no treatment to prevent this from happening.

5.Can I breastfeed my baby if I have hepatitis B?

Yes, you can. Make sure your baby gets a shot called H-BIG and a shot of hepatitis B vaccine within 12 hours of birth. Take good care of your nipple areas to prevent cracking and bleeding. If your nipples are cracking or bleeding, avoid nursing your baby on that breast until the sores heal. Until they heal, you can pump your milk to keep up your milk supply. But you should discard this pumped milk.

6.If I have hepatitis B, what does my baby need so that she doesn't get the virus?

Make sure your baby gets all three hepatitis B shots plus H-BIG. If you are a mother with hepatitis B, follow this schedule for your baby:

These shots will fight off the virus, and they are safe for your baby. If your baby gets those shots, there is a much lower chance your baby will get hepatitis B. A few months after your baby gets all of these shots, the doctor should do blood tests to see if your baby has the virus or if your baby is protected from HBV infection. If your baby does not get these shots, the baby has a very high chance of getting hepatitis B and developing serious liver disease.

7.How long do the hepatitis A and B vaccines protect you?

Only 1 series of the hepatitis A vaccine (2 shots) and hepatitis B vaccine (3 shots) is needed during a person's lifetime. Currently, there are no recommendations to give booster doses of either hepatitis A or hepatitis B vaccine.