Hepatitis B
Fact sheet2 - Health conditions directory.
Hepatitis B is an infection caused by the hepatitis B virus which inflames the liver. Hepatitis B is one of the most serious types of hepatitis. The virus can cause either acute (short-lived) or chronic (long term) liver disease. The disease can affect babies, children and adults.
Public health management guidelines
- Read Queensland Health guidelines for public health units3
- Read Communicable Diseases Network Australia Guidelines4
Notification
Pathology laboratories
Notification resources
- List of all Pathological, clinical and provisional diagnosis notifiable conditions7
- List of Public Health Unit8 contacts
- Notifiable conditions report form for Queensland doctors/clinicians (PHA S70) or person in charge of a Hospital (PHA S71)9 (PDF, 77kB) - if faxing notification, follow up by phone.
Enhanced surveillance for public health units
- Case report form10 (acute) (PDF, 313kB) - used by public health units to collect and manage more detailed information for enhanced case surveillance.
Clinical guidelines
- Australian STI management guidelines11 - an online resource for primary care health professionals which provide concise information to support the prevention, testing, diagnosis, management and treatment of STIs.
Resources for health professionals
- Management of occupational exposure to blood and body fluids12 (PDF, 247kB) - this guideline provides the minimum recommended procedures for the immediate assessment, management and follow-up of individuals who have been exposed (or suspect they have been exposed) to blood borne viruses (BBV), and recommendations for initiation of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in occupational settings.
Immunisation
- Australian immunisation handbook13 - clinical guidelines for health professionals on the safest and most effective use of vaccines in their practice.
Related information
- Accidental needle stick injury in public places14 - Queensland Health fact sheet for the public.
- Post-exposure prophylaxis15 – Queensland Health fact sheet for the general public.
- Contact tracing16 - information and resources for health professionals.
Epidemiological data and reports
- View communicable diseases data for notifiable conditions in Queensland17 and blood borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections surveillance reports18.
- The Kirby Institute usually reports annually on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia. The data, including full data tables and charts as well as additional information, can be found on the Kirby Institute's data site19. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, data has been compiled into a national summary for 2009-201820.