- Hepatitis B virus can cause serious liver damage and death.
Symptoms include jaundice, fever, nausea, and abdominal pain.
- Less than 5 percent of patients develop chronic infection with hepatitis B, which carries an estimated 15 percent lifetime risk of dying from cirrhosis or liver cancer.
- The chance of becoming infected with hepatitis B from a sharps injury is estimated to be between 23 and 62 percent.