What does the term “chronic hepatitis B” mean?
Chronic infection with HBV means that you have a long-term HBV infection; your body did not get rid of the virus when you were first infected with HBV. The risk of progressing to chronic infection is age dependent (i.e., 2 percent to 6 percent of people older than 5 years; 30 percent of children age 1 to 5 years; and up to 90 percent of infants). People with chronic infection can infect others and are at increased risk of serious liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer. In the United States, an estimated 1.25 million people are chronically infected with HBV.
Chronic infection with HBV means that you have a long-term HBV infection; your body did not get rid of the virus when you were first infected with HBV. The risk of progressing to chronic infection is age dependent (i.e., 2% to 6% of people over aged 5 years; 30% of children aged 1-5 years; and up to 90% of infants). People with chronic infection can infect others and are at increased risk of serious liver disease including cirrhosis and liver cancer. In the United States, an estimated 1.25 million people are chronically infected with HBV.
