hepatitis B

noun

Pathology.

1. a form of hepatitis caused by a DNA virus hepatitis B virus, or HBV that persists in the blood, characterized by a long incubation period: usually transmitted by sexual contact or by injection or ingestion of infected blood or other bodily fluids.

hepatitis B

noun

1. Former name: serum hepatitis. a form of hepatitis caused by a virus transmitted by infected blood (as in transfusions), contaminated hypodermic needles, sexual contact, or by contact with any other body fluid

Word History and Origins

Origin of hepatitis B¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Many people in the U.S. have asymptomatic hepatitis B, says O’Leary, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora.

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The president also recommended that children not receive a vaccine for hepatitis B until age 12.

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He then went on to reject the widespread medical consensus about childhood vaccines, offering “advice” that will only lead to children unnecessarily getting measles, rubella, and hepatitis B.

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To understand why Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is attacking the hepatitis B vaccine, look to the rhetoric coming from his loudest fans in the anti-vaccine movement.

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The Acip has cast doubt on the hepatitis B vaccine for months, even though scientists say it is safe and effective at preventing the infection.

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