What are the symptoms of type B hepatitis?
The incubation period, from the time of exposure to the virus until the onset of the disease, is two to six months. Early symptoms include poor appetite, lack of interest in food, nausea, aching muscles and joints, and mild fever. Later symptoms include yellowing of the skin, mucous membranes, and white portions of the eyes (jaundice, icterus); light-coloured stools; and dark urine. When the late symptoms have developed, the patient usually begins to get better. In approximately 1 out of 20 patients, the infection becomes chronic. Patients with chronic type B hepatitis may have only mild symptoms, such as tiredness, aching muscles and joints and periodical pressure below the right ribs from the enlarged liver. Approximately one fifth of the patients develop cirrhosis over a number of years which may result in liver failure and other serious complications. On average, cirrhosis develops 15 years after the virus has been contracted. Newborn babies show no symptoms of acute hepatitis. How
