Hepatitis D (HDV) is spread through contact with infected blood. This disease only occurs as a co-infection with hepatitis B, or in anyone who are already infected with hepatitis B.
Not everyone infected with the hepatitis D virus will develop symptoms. You may develop a sudden fever, extreme tiredness, nausea, lack of appetite, abdominal or stomach pain, and yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes.
Those at risk are injection drug users, people who live with or have sex with a person infected with HDV and people who received a transfusion of blood or blood products before 1987.
Vaccination against HBV will prevent HDV. Other preventive measures include avoiding exposure to infected blood, contaminated needles, and an infected person’s personal items such as toothbrushes, razors, and nail clippers.
Interferon alfa-2b treatments may be beneficial to a small proportion of patients.