Hepatitis B is a viral  disease affecting the liver, spread by contaminated blood and body products. It occurs world wide.

Travellers can be exposed from:

• unprotected sex
• exposure to blood or blood products through occupation, such as healthcare work
• exposure to contaminated needles through injecting drug use, or as a result of accessing medical or dental treatment
• participation in contact sports
• adoption of children from risk countries
• long stay travel

 Symptoms more commonly occur in adults than children and may include: jaundice , loss of appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Persistent hepatitis B infection develops in 80 to 90 percent of those infected in the first year of life and in only five percent of those infected in adult years. Persistent infection may lead to liver failure or liver cancer.