Home > Hepatitis B factsheet.

World Health Organization. (2023) Hepatitis B factsheet. Geneva: World Health Organization.

External website: https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detai...


Key facts

  • Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease.
  • The virus is most commonly transmitted from mother to child during birth and delivery, in early childhood, as well as through contact with blood or other body fluids during sex with an infected partner, unsafe injections or exposures to sharp instruments.
  • WHO estimates that 296 million people were living with chronic hepatitis B infection in 2019, with 1.5 million new infections each year.
  • In 2019, hepatitis B resulted in an estimated 820 000 deaths, mostly from cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer).
  • Hepatitis B can be prevented by vaccines that are safe, available and effective.
Item Type
FactSheet
Publication Type
International
Drug Type
Opioid
Date
July 2023
Publisher
World Health Organization
Corporate Creators
World Health Organization
Place of Publication
Geneva
EndNote
Accession Number
HRB (Electronic Only)

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