Every week hundreds of teenagers and young adults are infected with hepatitis B

Get vaccinated against this disease!!

What is hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B is a serious liver disease caused by a virus. The virus can enter the blood stream, attack the liver, and cause severe illness - even death. In some cases, the virus can remain in the body for a lifetime and cause ongoing liver damage - including liver cancer.

How do teens get hepatitis B?

There are many ways. Hepatitis B is spread by:

• Sex
• Sharing needles, toothbrushes, or razors
• Coming in contact with someone's blood
• Tattoos or body-piercing with un-sterile equipment
• You do NOT get hepatitis B from sneezing, coughing, or holding hands.

Will I feel really sick if I get hepatitis B?

Different people get different symptoms. You could get extremely sick (one out of three do). Your symptoms may include any of the following:

• yellowish tinged skin and eyes
• a bloated belly that hurts
• loss of appetite, extreme tiredness
• a feeling that you want to vomit
• fever
• dark-colored urine
• a rash all over your body
• Some infected people never feel sick. They can still infect others and develop severe liver disease later on.

Hepatitis B infects one out of every 20 Americans at some time during their lives.

Do many people get hepatitis B?

Each year over a quarter of a million people are infected with hepatitis B. Over one million people in the U.S. have this virus in their blood. Every week hundreds of teenagers get hepatitis B.

How do I protect myself against hepatitis B?

To protect yourself against hepatitis B, you have to get three shots. The hepatitis B vaccine is one of the safest vaccines available. It has been used in the U.S. since 1982 and has been shown to be safe. Make sure you get these three important shots. These shots are usually given over a period of six months.