hepatitis B

noun

: an acute or chronic hepatitis that is caused by a DNA virus (Orthohepadnavirus hominoidei of the family Hepadnaviridae), is marked chiefly by fatigue, fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, darkened urine, jaundice, and joint pain but may be asymptomatic, and is transmitted especially by contact with infected blood (as by transfusion or by sharing contaminated needles in illicit intravenous drug use) or by contact with other infected bodily fluids (such as semen)

Note: The acute form of hepatitis B, a mild illness lasting several weeks to months, may progress to long-term or chronic infection often leading to liver damage, liver failure, or liver cancer.

called also serum hepatitis

Examples of hepatitis B in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Consider that before universal newborn protection against hepatitis B began in 1991, about 18,000 children contracted the virus yearly, nearly all developing lifelong infection that led to premature death in a quarter of them from cirrhosis or liver cancer. —Professor David R. Hill, Hartford Courant, 17 Apr. 2026

After Monarez was fired, Jim O'Neill, who served as Kennedy's HHS deputy secretary, was named as acting CDC director and signed off on the CDC decision to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for children and remove the universal recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. —Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026

The goal is to see if there are previously undetected negative consequences of giving the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine at birth. —Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 6 Apr. 2026

The change dropped recommendations that all babies should be protected against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, RSV, dengue and two types of bacterial meningitis. —Erika Edwards, NBC news, 27 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hepatitis B

• actuary
• antiquary
• bolsheviki
• calliope
• chelicerae
• covenantee
• cruciferae
• diastole
• distributee
• hyperbole
• interviewee
• origami

Medical Definition

hepatitis B

noun

-ˈbē 

: an acute or chronic hepatitis that is caused by a double-stranded DNA virus (Orthohepadnavirus hominoidei of the family Hepadnaviridae), is marked chiefly by fatigue, fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, darkened urine, jaundice, and joint pain but may be asymptomatic, and is transmitted especially by contact with infected blood (as by transfusion or by sharing contaminated needles in illicit intravenous drug use) or by contact with other infected body fluids (such as semen)

Note: The acute form of hepatitis B, a mild illness lasting several weeks to months, may progress to long-term or chronic infection often leading to liver damage, liver failure, or liver cancer.

called also homologous serum hepatitis, homologous serum jaundice, serum hepatitis