The following groups of people are considered at a high-risk of contracting hepatitis B:
People with multiple sex partners or who have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (STD)
Men who have sex with men
Sex partners of infected persons
Intravenous drug users
People who received a transfusion of blood or blood products before July 1992 or clotting factors made before 1987
People who live in the same household as a chronically-infected person
Infants born to infected mothers
Infants and children of immigrants from areas with high rates of hepatitis B -- particularly Africa, Asia, Alaska, and parts of South America
Healthcare and public safety workers
International travelers
Hemodialysis patients.
How Long After HBV Transmission Do Symptoms Occur?
When someone becomes infected with the hepatitis B virus, he or she will not feel sick immediately. The period between HBV transmission and the beginning of hepatitis B symptoms is called the hepatitis B incubation period. It may be as short as 30 days or as long as 180 days; the average is 4 to 12 weeks.
(Click Hepatitis B Incubation Period to learn more about this period of time between infection and symptoms. Click Hepatitis B Prevention to learn how to prevent becoming infected with the hepatitis B virus in the first place.)
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