What to know
May is Hepatitis Awareness Month. This observance serves as a time to raise awareness about hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C while encouraging testing, vaccination, and timely treatment. Viral hepatitis is a major public health threat and worse, hundreds of thousands of people in the United States don't know they are infected. Work with us to remind everyone that hepatitis A and hepatitis B can be prevented, and hepatitis C can be cured.
Why it's important
Hepatitis A and hepatitis B are vaccine preventable and hepatitis C can be cured.
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A infection usually causes a mild, short-term illness. Symptoms could include fever, joint pain, and yellow skin or eyes (jaundice). There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A. Vaccination is the best way to prevent infection.
Hepatitis B and hepatitis C
Most people with hepatitis B or hepatitis C do not look or feel sick. Getting tested is the only way to know if you have either virus and get treatment. Left untreated, chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C can cause serious health problems including liver damage, liver cancer, and even death.
Although there is no cure for hepatitis B, treatments are available that can delay or reduce the risk of developing liver cancer.
There is currently no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C, but curative treatments are available. Most people with hepatitis C can be cured with just 8–12 weeks of well-tolerated oral-only treatment. Testing is the first step.
Help us spread the word
Each May during Hepatitis Awareness Month, CDC promotes awareness of the importance of vaccination against hepatitis A and hepatitis B and the importance of testing, early diagnosis, and treatment for hepatitis B and hepatitis C to the public and health care practitioners.
May 19 is National Hepatitis Testing Day. The goal of National Hepatitis Testing Day is to help raise awareness about viral hepatitis and to encourage more individuals to get tested for hepatitis and learn their status. CDC recommends all adults aged 18 years and older be screened at least once in their lifetimes for hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
Review the latest national viral hepatitis data
CDC publishes the most recent viral hepatitis surveillance data through the online dashboard, HepTracker. HepTracker allows users to view case surveillance and viral hepatitis-related mortality data for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
The National Progress Report is published annually to track progress towards viral hepatitis elimination goals.
HepTracker and the National Progress Report contain important data for informing and developing effective public health programs, and monitoring progress toward eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat in the United States.
For more information:
Get involved
- Share the ABCs of Viral Hepatitis to help others learn facts about the three most common types of viral hepatitis in the US.
- Register your testing services by visiting GetTested: CDC's National HIV, STD, and Hepatitis Testing site and filling out the online form.
Resources
Learn more about viral hepatitis.
