Protect Your Loved Ones
It is important to make sure you prevent transmission of the hepatitis B virus to those you love:
- The first step is to have household family members and sexual partners tested and vaccinated if they are not infected, or have not recovered from a past HBV infection
- Hepatitis B can be spread through direct contact with blood – blood to blood, unprotected sex, and contact with infected bodily fluids, so until you know that your family members are protected:
- avoid unprotected sex – use latex or polyurethane condoms.
- don’t share personal items like razors, needles, nail clippers, tooth brushes or earrings, body jewelry – anything that might have trace amounts of blood on them.
- make sure you keep all cuts and open sores covered
- clean all blood spills with a fresh 1:9 solution of bleach and water (1 part bleach to 9 parts water), making sure gloves are used.
- Once you are sure that loved ones are protected through vaccination, you do not have to worry about possibly infecting them.
- If you wish to confirm that your family member is protected, you can have the doctor run an anti-HBs titer test 1-2 months following the last shot of the vaccine series.
- Hepatitis B is NOT spread through casual contact, hugging, coughing, sneezing, or eating food prepared by someone who is infected, or eating dinner with him or her. You do not have to worry about these things even before your family members are protected by the vaccine. So, even while your family members or sexual partners are completing the vaccine series, you do not have to worry about transmitting the virus through casual contact.