Hepatitis B is a serious disease.
The hepatitis B virus (HBV) can cause short-term (acute) illness that leads to:

• loss of appetite
• diarrhea and vomiting
  
• tiredness
• jaundice (yellow skin or eyes)
  
• pain in muscles, joints, and stomach
  

It can also cause long-term (chronic) illness that leads to:

• liver damage (cirrhosis)
  
• liver cancer
  
• death
  

About 1.25 million people in the U.S. have chronic HBV infection.

Each year it is estimated that:

• 80,000 people, mostly young adults, get infected with HBV
  
• More than 11,000 people have to stay in the hospital because of hepatitis B
  
• 4,000 to 5,000 people die from chronic hepatitis B
  

Hepatitis B vaccine can prevent cancer. It is the first anti-cancer vaccine because it can prevent a form of liver cancer.