Is there an obligation to register?
Hepatitis B must be reported. Accordingly, the health authorities must be notified in case of suspected illness, sickness and death from hepatitis B. The same applies to direct and indirect virus detection if it indicates an acute infection. The report of the affected person to the public health department must be made by name.
What is the course of hepatitis B disease?
Hepatitis B disease has an incubation period of 6 weeks to 6 months. In about 2/3 of the patients, flu-like symptoms occur which last for several days. In about half of these patients, there is then also a yellowing of the skin.
The acute infection usually subsides completely after 3-6 weeks. In up to 10% of infected patients, however, the course is chronic. Often, chronic hepatitis goes unnoticed for a long time and is conspicuous by chance by increased liver values during a laboratory examination.
The risk of liver cirrhosis is 2-10% per year. If the patients suffer from cirrhosis of the liver, the prognosis is often determined by its course. In advanced liver cirrhosis (stage Child C), the 2-year survival rate is only about 40%.In addition, 2-7% of hepatitis B patients with liver cirrhosis develop hepatocellular carcinoma per year, which also leads to a reduction in life expectancy.
How long does the healing take?
Acute hepatitis is not always symptomatic. If it is symptomatic, the duration of the acute stage varies between 3 and 6 weeks. The early phase (prodromal stage) with flu symptoms lasts for about 3-10 days, then the yellowing (icterus) of the skin is added, which can persist for another 2-4 weeks and usually disappears slowly within this period.
In 90% of the cases the healing occurs spontaneously after a few weeks. In about 10% of the cases, however, it comes to a chronic course. This chronic form of hepatitis B is not yet completely curable.
