Protecting Yourself Against HBV Infection
The following tips can help you protect yourself against
infection with
hepatitis B virus (HBV).
- Get vaccinated(What is a PDF document?)
against HBV if you are at risk of becoming infected.
- Have your children vaccinated against HBV.
- Do not
have sex with someone who is or might be infected with HBV. If you do have
sexual intercourse with someone who is infected with HBV (or whose sexual
history is unknown to you), use condoms correctly and all the
time.
- If you inject drugs (prescription or illegal), do not share
with anyone else the needles and/or equipment used to prepare
drugs.
- Health care workers should practice standard precautions and
promptly report to the occupational health department all incidents with needle
sticks or other sharp instruments.
- Members of ethnic groups at high
risk for hepatitis B should be vaccinated. These include Chinese, Koreans,
Indochinese, Filipinos, Alaska Natives, and Haitians. Asian Americans are also
at increased risk for hepatitis B, because they are more likely to have a
household member infected with hepatitis B.
- If you live with
someone who has long-term (chronic) HBV infection, you should be vaccinated
against hepatitis B.
- If you get a tattoo, make sure the needles used have been properly cleaned and are sterile.
Credits
| By | Healthwise Staff |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | W. Thomas London, MD - Hepatology |
| Last Revised | October 29, 2012 |