STD HEPATITIS B: FEW TYPES OF TRANSMISSION
Sexual Contact. Hepatitis B can be passed through anal, vaginal, and oral sex, and possibly even through kissing. The risk of infection with hepatitis B increases with the number of sexual partners a person has. The fastest-growing group of infected people is heterosexuals. In one study, 21 percent of heterosexuals with more than five sexual partners in the past four months had hepatitis B, whereas those with fewer than five partners had a lifetime risk of infection of 6 percent. Sexual partners of people who are infected have a high risk of becoming infected themselves. People who know their partners are infected should be immunized. In fact, it could be argued that any sexually active adult should be immunized.
Mother-to-Child Transmission. If a woman is infected during her pregnancy, particularly during the last trimester of pregnancy, or if she is a carrier for hepatitis B infection, she has a high risk of infecting her child. Infection can occur while the child is in the womb, but it most often occurs during delivery, possibly from mixing of maternal and fetal blood. Children who are infected at birth more often than not become carriers themselves. A baby born to a mother who is infected with hepatitis B may show some evidence of infection in the blood at birth, but the baby may not be truly infected, because it may be the mother’s antibody that is being seen in the blood. However, a baby who persists in showing evidence of infection in the blood about four months after delivery can be assumed to be truly infected. Immunizing at-risk babies at delivery offers a good possibility of preventing these babies from becoming infected.
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