Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)
Symptoms of HBV
Signs and symptoms of hepatitis B range from mild to severe.
They usually appear about one to four months after you've been infected, although you could see them as early as two weeks post-infection. Symptoms may include:
- Abdominal pain
- Dark urine
- Fever
- Joint pain
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Weakness and fatigue
- Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)
The classic symptom of HBV is jaundice. It is a yellowing of the skin or eyes and occurs in the more serious phase of Hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis B can damage the liver, resulting in decreased liver function. As the liver's ability to filter waste from the blood decreases, the concentration of waste in the blood increases.
Only about 30 to 50 percent of individuals infected with Hepatitis B virus show symptoms. It is important to understand even without symptoms, HBV-infected individuals are still infectious to others.
Click here to view the CDC fact sheet for Hepatitis B. (PDF)
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2-3. What is the classic symptom of hepatitis B?
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