Hepatitis B is an inflammation of the liver, in which a child mainly suffers from mild fever, fatigue, pain in the right upper abdomen and nausea. It looks a lot like Hepatitis A, but it is completely different. How contagious is it and what can be the consequences?
Hepatitis B
The inflammation of the liver in Hepatitis B is caused by a different type of virus than is the case with Hepatitis A. Hepatitis B is rare in children and usually goes away on its own. After this, a child is immune. However, some people can carry the virus for life and infect others.
Incubation period
The incubation period is the time between the actual infection and the appearance of the first symptoms. During this time, an infectious disease can already be contagious. The incubation period for Hepatitis B varies from 1 to 6 months and the duration of the disease varies from 6 weeks to 6 months.
Phenomena
Common symptoms of Hepatitis B are;
- mild fever,
- Fatigue,
- Pain in the right upper abdomen,
- Nausea,
- Sometimes yellowing of the whites of the eyes and skin (such as with Hepatitis A),
- Cola-colored urine,
- White-colored stools.
Contamination and consequences
The Hepatitis B virus can only be transmitted through intimate unprotected sexual contact and through blood-blood contact. The virus cannot penetrate intact skin, but can enter the body through mucous membranes, open wounds or contaminated needles. Babies can be infected by their mothers during childbirth.You do not get Hepatitis B through skin contact (with intact skin), kissing, sneezing, coughing, sweat, tears, vomit, urine, feces, shared use of glasses, plates, pencils or the toilet.
Exclusion from daycare, playgroup or school
With some infectious diseases, a child is not welcome at a daycare center, playgroup or school for a while because of the high risk of infection. The GGD (Municipal Health Care) has drawn up rules for this. A child with Hepatitis B does not need to be excluded, but it is important to be careful with blood. This applies always and everywhere!
Report to the GGD
For some infectious diseases, a treating physician is obliged to report to the GGD that a child has this infectious disease. Any form of jaundice (and therefore also Hepatitis B) must be reported to the GGD.