BLOODBORNE PATHOGENS - LESSON NINE

What About Hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B is a serious disease that attacks the liver...

Symptoms of Hepatitis B include fever, vomiting, exhaustion, jaundice, lack of appetite, dark-colored urine, light-colored stool, muscle and joint aches. About 30% of people infected with Hepatitis B show no symptoms and may not know they are infected.

Most children and about half of all adults who get hepatitis B will never feel sick at all. A blood test is required to determine if you have Hepatitis B. It can take as long as 2-8 months before a Hepatitis B infection will show up in a blood test.

To avoid exposure to Hepatitis B while working at Belton ISD:

  • follow universal precautions
  • get the Hepatitis vaccine

Belton ISD offers the Hepatitis B vaccine without cost to all identified employees.

According to the Texas Department of Health, there were zero reported cases of Hepatitis B in Bell County for the year 1999. While this is good news, there was an alarming statewide rise in reported cases of Hepatitis B from 1999 to 2000
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/immunize

 

 

To learn more about vaccination-preventable diseases in Bell County, visit the Texas Department of Health at http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/immunize

The Centers for Disease Control offer a host of free information regarding Hepatitis B. For more information go to http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/b/index.htm.

You can learn more about Hepatitis B by visiting the following sites:

The American Liver Foundation

http://www.liverfoundation.org

The Immunization Action Coalition

http://www.immunize.org

Key Terms
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Hepatitis B
 

Check Up

In this lesson you learned that:

  • Hepatitis B is a serious disease that attacks the liver
  • There were no reported cases of Hepatitis B in Bell County for the year 1999; however precautions are still required
  • Across the state, there is an alarming increase in the number of reported cases of Hepatitis B
  • You can protect yourself from Hepatitis B by following Universal Precautions
  • You can further protect yourself from Hepatitis B by getting the Hepatitis B vaccine

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