What is hepatitis B?
- Virus that infects the liver, first described by Blumberg in the late 1960s
- Very common infection
- 4 billion have been infected worldwide
- 400 million have chronic life-long infection
- Canada: common in big cities, northern communities
- Chronic hepatitis B infection is asymptomatic but can lead to:
- Cirrhosis
- Primary liver cancer (hepatoma)
- Liver failure
- Liver-related death in 25% of chronic hepatitis B infections
- Hepatitis B is treatable