Long ago, the Chinese considered the liver, not the heart, to be the center of the body. The liver is the largest organ in your body and one of the most versatile. It helps your body digest food and eliminate waste. It makes and metabolizes cholesterol, stores and releases glucose energy, and metabolizes drugs. In other words, you can't live without it.

Hepatitis is caused by a family of viruses that attack the liver. Some types can lead to severe liver damage. These infections can be passed through contaminated needles, sexual contact, contaminated food and water, and more.

Do you know how to reduce your risk of contracting these viruses? Answer "true" or "false" to the following:

1.    True or false: Hepatitis symptoms can be mistaken for a less serious illness.

True. The most common symptoms are fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain and jaundice (yellowing of the skin). These symptoms (except for jaundice) are often mistaken for the flu or another less serious viral illness. With some kinds of hepatitis, even if the symptoms disappear, you can still be infected with the virus. You can infect others and not realize it.

2.    True or false: Vaccines are available to protect against all types of hepatitis.

False. At this time, vaccines are available for hepatitis A and B but not for hepatitis C, D or E.

3.    True or false: Tattooing puts a person at risk for getting hepatitis B and C.

True. If a tattoo needle has been infected with hepatitis B or C, the virus can be passed to anyone who gets tattooed with the needle.

4.    True or false: All forms of hepatitis can be spread through having sex.

False. Hepatitis B virus is in blood and body fluids and can be spread through sex. Hepatitis A is spread by putting something in your mouth that has been contaminated with the stool of someone infected with hepatitis A. This is usually by eating or drinking foods or liquids infected with the virus. Also, it can be spread through oral-anal contact during sex. Hepatitis C is spread through blood and through sexual contact, though this is not thought to occur very often.

5.    True or false: Children can be vaccinated against hepatitis.

True. There are safe and effective vaccines for protecting children and adults against hepatitis A and B. Hepatitis A vaccine is given in two doses starting between 12 and 23 months of age. It is also recommended in certain cases for older children. Hepatitis B vaccination is a series of three injections, given during a six- to 12-month period, to fully protect you. The vaccine can be started just after birth and continued during the first year of life. Older children who have not been vaccinated against hepatitis B can start the series at any time.

6.    True or false: People who are infected with the hepatitis virus can become chronic carriers of the disease.

True. People infected with hepatitis B or C virus have a chance of chronic infection. But people infected with hepatitis A almost always recover without serious problems and do not become chronic carriers. Chronic infection means you don't clear the virus from your system after the first infection. The virus stays in your body and remains contagious. Without treatment, chronic hepatitis infections may lead to liver failure or death.

7.    True or false: You can find out if you are infected with hepatitis by having a blood test.

True. Depending on which type of hepatitis you have, one or more blood tests are needed to diagnose you. Hepatitis testing may not be part of a routine medical exam. If you think you may be infected or you just want to be tested, ask your doctor.

8. True or false: A hepatitis infection is never serious enough to require a liver transplant.

False. End-stage liver disease can require a liver transplant.

9. True or false: A pregnant woman infected with hepatitis B can give the disease to her baby at birth.

True. Pregnant women who are infected with hepatitis B can spread the disease to their babies. Because women infected with hepatitis B may not have symptoms, the best way to find out if you have the disease is to be tested during pregnancy.

Related Articles Hepatitis C What Is Hepatitis? Hepatitis B Hepatitis A

External Sources National Institutes of Health. National Digestive Diseases Clearinghouse. Chronic hepatitis C: current disease management. Accessed May 19, 2008. Hepatitis Foundation International. Preventing hepatitis. Accessed May 23, 2008.

This article was reviewed and updated 08-01-2009.