Hepatitis B Symptoms
Symptoms of Hepatitis B
In the acute phase of hepatitis B, symptoms range widely in severity, from asymptomatic, subclinical infection to fulminant, fatal disease. Statistics suggest that almost one third of the people infected have no symptoms, and that's why the infection is called silent. In another third the symptoms are similar to those caused by flu: weakness, aches, headache, fever, loss of appetite, diarrhea, jaundice, nausea and vomiting.
And, in the last third, the symptoms are more severe and last for many months. Besides flu-like symptoms, in those cases abdominal pain, diarrhea and jaundice can occur. The reason why jaundice occur in hepatitis infection is the incapacity of the liver to remove bilirubin (a pigment that builds up in the body, causing the skin and whites of the eyes to turn yellow) from the blood.