Hepatitis B

Anyone who is at increased risk of being infected with the hepatitis B virus should consider being vaccinated.

You should also consider vaccination if you are planning to travel to a place where the condition is particularly common, such as south-east Asia, sub-Saharan Africa or the Pacific Islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands, the Solomon Islands and Fiji.

The hepatitis B vaccine is offered to all babies whose mothers or close family have been infected with hepatitis B.

Vaccination

Ask your GP or visit any sexual health or GUM (genito-urinary medicine) clinic for the hepatitis B vaccination.

For full protection, you will need three injections of hepatitis B vaccine over a period of four to six months.

A blood test is then taken one month after the third dose, to check that the vaccinations have worked.

You should then be immune (resistant to the virus) for at least five years. A booster injection is usually given five years after the initial injection.

Immunoglobulin

Anyone who has been exposed to the hepatitis B virus should be immediately given an injection of antibodies called immunoglobulin, as well as the hepatitis B vaccine. This is because there is not enough time to wait for the vaccine to work.

Immunoglobulin should ideally be given within 48 hours, but should be considered up to a week after exposure.