Hepatitis B is highly contagious - which means it can be passed from person to person very easily. It's 50 to 100 times more contagious than HIV. The virus is present in body fluids such as blood, saliva, semen and vaginal fluid.

There are a number of ways you can get hepatitis B.

From mother to baby

This is the most common way for hepatitis B to be spread. If the virus spreads from mother to baby it usually happens during childbirth.

Blood

If blood from an infected person gets into your bloodstream you can get hepatitis B. There are a number of ways this could happen including:

• through an open wound
• from a contaminated needle
• from contaminated medical or dental equipment which is not sterilised properly
• from contaminated tattooing equipment which is not sterilised properly
• from blood donations in countries where blood is not tested (in the UK all blood donations are tested for hepatitis B)

Sex

If you have unprotected sex with an infected person you can get hepatitis B.

Immunisation for Children

For immunisation from birth to 15 years of age we offer hepatitis B vaccine Engerix B Paediatric manufactured by GlaxoSmith Kline

For more detailed information on Engerix B Paediactric click on this sentence

We also offer a combined paediatric hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines Ambirix and Twinrix Paediatric from 1 to 15 years of age.  Both vaccines are manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.

For more detailed information on Ambirix click on this sentence.

For more detailed information on Twinrix Paediatric click on this sentence

Immunisation for Adults

Twinrix Adult is a vaccine used in adults and adolescents 16 years of age and above to prevent two diseases: hepatitis A and hepatitis B.  Manuafactured by GlaxoSmithKline.

For more detailed information on Twinrix click on this sentence.

We can also offer vaccination for hepatitis B.  Engerix B Adult is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and can be administered from 16 years of age upwards.

For more detailed infromation on Engerix B Adult click on this sentence