The Symptoms of Hepatitis B
What are the symptoms of hepatitis type B?
The incubation period, which is the period from the time of infection by the virus until the onset of the disease lasts from two to six months. Initial symptoms are decreased appetite and disinterest in food, nausea, muscle and joint aches and low fever.
Later appear jaundice, a yellowing of the skin, mucous membranes and sclera (whites of the eyes), little colored stools and dark urine. When these latter symptoms appear the patient will usually begin to feel better.The infection becomes chronic in 5% of patients. Patients with chronic hepatitis B may notice only mild symptoms such as fatigue, muscle and joint pains and occasional feelings of pressure under the lower ribs on the right side of the body, due to enlargement of the liver. Approximately one fifth of these patients develop cirrhosis after several years, cirrhosis is a degenerative disease of the liver, which can cause liver failure and other serious complications. On average, cirrhosis takes 15 years to appear after the infection.
Newborns who become infected during birth have no symptoms of acute hepatitis. However, about 90% of these cases become chronic. If transmission occurs during childhood, the passage to chronicity occurs in 30% of cases.
credit to: Dr. José María Ladero Quesada, Dr. Court Pedersen, Dr. Ove Schaffalitzky de Muckadell
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