Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Originally known as serum hepatitis, Hepatitis B has only been recognized as such since World War II, and has caused current epidemics in parts of Asia and Africa. Hepatitis B is transmitted thorough sexual contact, and by injections transporting a virus-bearing serum, most often during blood transfusion and by contaminated needles and syringes. Roughly 16-40% of sexual partners of individuals with hepatitis B will be infected through sexual contact. The virus that causes hepatitis B is a member of the Hepadnavirus family and it is composed of an icosahedral nucleocapsid (core) enclosing a circular, double-stranded DNA genome. The virus is unique amongst the DNA viruses in that it uses a reverse transcriptase to generate the genomic DNA to deliver to its progeny. Additionally, the DNA genome is incomplete on one strand. Hepatitis D infection requires a concomitant infection with hepatitis B. Hepatitis B infection can lead to a chronic inflammation of the liver, leading to cirrhosis. This type of infection dramatically increases the incidence of liver cancer. A recombinant vaccine to prevent hepatitis B is available. DISCLAIMER Please remember that Wikipedia is offered for informational use only. The information is in most cases not reviewed by professionals. You are advised to contact your doctor for health-related decisions. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.