Hepatitis B: Symptoms

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Symptoms

Less than half of those with short-term (acute) hepatitis B infections have symptoms. Symptoms include:

• Jaundice (the skin and whites of the eyes appear yellow). Although jaundice is the defining sign of hepatitis B, it does not occur in most cases. Jaundice usually appears after other symptoms have started to go away.
• Extreme tiredness (fatigue).
• Mild fever.
• Headache.
• Loss of appetite.
• Nausea.
• Vomiting.
• Constant discomfort on the right side of the abdomen under the rib cage, where the liver is located. In most people, the discomfort is made worse when their bodies are jarred or if they overwork themselves.
• Diarrhea or constipation.
• Muscle aches.
• Joint pain.
• Skin rash.

Most people with chronic HBV have no symptoms.

You may get infected with HBV without knowing it. You may not find out that you have an HBV infection until you have a routine blood test or donate blood. Finding out a family member or someone you live with is infected also may cause you to be tested. Some people never know they have hepatitis B until a health professional finds that they have cirrhosis or liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma). But this is uncommon.

Last updated:	October 15, 2007
Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, W. Thomas London, MD - Hepatology
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC