现况

• 　  中国估计有9300万人已经感染了乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）。

　　治疗

• 　　 对急性乙型肝炎没有特定的治疗。护理的目的是保持身体舒适和适当的营养平衡，包括对有呕吐和腹泻症状的患者补充水份。
• 　　 慢性乙型肝炎可使用药物治疗，包括使用干扰素和抗病毒药物，这可以帮助一些病人。治疗花费一年近万元，不是每个病人发病后都能够负担。
• 　　 肝硬化患者有时要接受肝移植，不是都能够成功。
• 　　 肝癌几乎总是致命的，而且往往是在人们最具生产力以及承担着家庭责任的年龄发生。

　　预防

• 　　 所有婴儿应接受乙型肝炎疫苗：这是预防乙型肝炎的根本。
• 　　 根据现有的常规免疫程序，乙肝疫苗需要接种三次。在中国第一剂的疫苗应在出生后尽早接种（即出生后24小时内）。
• 　　 完成规定的疫苗接种后，95％以上的婴儿、儿童、轻壮年都可产生保护性抗体。保护期至少持续20年，甚至是终生。
• 　　 所有年龄低于18岁的儿童和青少年，以前未接种疫苗都应接种疫苗。2009-2011年中国政府将为所有15岁以下、既往未接种疫苗的儿童和青少年提供免费接种。
• 　　 该疫苗在有效性和安全性方面具有非常好的记录。自1982年以来，超过10亿剂乙肝疫苗，已经在全世界使用。在中国疫苗接种已将5岁以下儿童慢性感染的比例减少到1％以下。

Hepatitis B

　　Key facts

　　· Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver, causing both acute and chronic disease.

　　· The virus is transmitted through contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person - not through casual contact.

　　· About 25% of adults who become chronically infected during childhood later die from liver cancer or cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) caused by the chronic infection.

　　· Hepatitis B virus is an important occupational hazard for health workers.

　　· Hepatitis B is preventable with a safe and effective vaccine.

　　Frequency

　　· In China, an estimated 93 million people have been infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV).

　　Treatment

　　· There is no specific treatment for acute hepatitis B. Care is aimed at maintaining comfort and adequate nutritional balance, including replacement of fluids that are lost from vomiting and diarrhea.

　　· Chronic hepatitis B can be treated with drugs, including interferon and anti-viral agents, which can help some patients. Treatment can cost dozens of thousands of RMB per year and is not affordable to everyone.

　　· Patients with cirrhosis are sometimes given liver transplants, with varying success.

　　· Liver cancer is almost always fatal, and often develops in people at an age when they are most productive and have family responsibilities.

　　Prevention

　　· All infants should receive the hepatitis B vaccine: this is the mainstay of hepatitis B prevention.

　　· The vaccine is given in three separate doses, as part of existing routine immunization schedules. In China, the first dose of vaccine should be given as soon as possible after birth (i.e. within 24 hours).

　　· The complete vaccine series induces protective antibody levels in more than 95% of infants, children and young adults. Protection lasts at least 20 years and should be lifelong.

　　· All children and adolescents younger than 18 years old and not previously vaccinated should receive the vaccine. In China, from 2009 to 2011, the Government will provide the vaccine free of charge for all children under 15 years of age who have not yet been vaccinated.

　　· The vaccine has an outstanding record of safety and effectiveness. Since 1982, over one billion doses of hepatitis B vaccine have been used worldwide. In China, vaccination has reduced the rate of chronic infection to less than 1% among immunized children under 5 years age.