Hepatitis B is a vaccine-preventable disease which is transmitted through contact with blood or body fluids of an infected person. The main routes of transmission are mother-to-baby, child-to-child, sexual contact and unsafe injections. The number of cases notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) increased each year between 1996 and 2005, and decreased by 7% (to 811) in 2006 (Table 1). There were 863 cases in 2007, of whom 705 had a chronic infection, 52 had an acute infection and the disease status of 106 cases was unknown. The surveillance system has recorded risk factor data since 2004, but the number of cases notified to the HPSC that include data on risk factors is low (although it increased in 2007 when compared to 2005). In 2007 half (353) of all cases had risk factor data reported, of whom six (2%) reported injecting drug use as their main risk factor. The number of such cases remained consistently low between 2005 and 2007, indicating the effictiveness of routine administration of the hepatitis B vaccine.

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