1. Reason

Hepatitis B is usually spread through blood or other body fluids of persons infected by hepatitis B virus (HBV).
Hepatitis B is most commonly spread from mother to child at birth (vertical transmission), and also transmitted by sexual contact, blood transfusion or infected needle stick.
After HBV enters into the blood, it is mainly located in the liver cells. This stimulates an immune response of the body to remove the virus, which in turn causes inflammation of the liver as the virus-infected liver cells are destroyed.

2. Symptom

• You can easily get tired, lose your appetite, and develop nausea and vomiting.
• The symptoms include muscle pain, mild fever, dark urine or yellowing of the skin or eyes.
• Some deadly cases can lead to death.

3. Diagnosis

Hepatitis B can be diagnosed with a simple blood test, which detects HBV surface antigen, HBsAg.

4. Preventive Method

Prevention is the most important thing in hepatitis B. In particular, if a mother with hepatitis B gives birth to a baby, the infant must be given hepatitis B vaccine and immunoglobulin before delivery. As Hepatitis B is very common in Korea, all Koreans should be vaccinated. And after injecting the vaccine, development of antibodies in the body should be verified.

5. Hepatitis Type B Vaccination

• Subject to vaccination : anyone without hepatitis B antibodies
• Vaccine type : U-box - LG Life Sciences (subject to change depending on the situation of the pharmaceutical company)
• Number of injections : 1st - start date of injection / 2nd - 1 month after the 1st injection / 3rd – 6 months after the 1st injection