Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. "Hepa" refers to the liver and "titis" means inflammation. Hepatitis can be caused by toxins, drugs, too much alcohol, or a variety of germs called viruses.

Viruses that infect the liver are called Hepatitis Viruses.

Each virus is unique and is identified by a letter of the alphabet, in the order of its discovery. The hepatitis B virus (HBV), is the second hepatitis virus ever identified by researchers. It can cause either a short-term (acute) infection or a long-term or lifelong (chronic) infection. HBV is spread mainly through exposure to infected blood and body fluids, especially during childbirth or during sex, or when syringes are shared. This virus is so hearty; it can live in dried blood on tabletops or in syringes for several days. Most people who get acute hepatitis B do not get very sick, but people with chronic infections can develop serous liver damage after years or decades of HBV infection..

There are 400 million carriers of hepatitis B in the world; 45 million of these are present in India . In other worlds, 1 in every 20 Indian is a Hepatitis B carrier. 30 percent of people infected with HBV, especially children, experience no symptoms. The most common symptoms are jaundice, fatigue, stomach discomfort and abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea and joint pain