What should you know about hepatitis B virus symptoms?

Many people with hepatitis B do not feel unwell, so symptoms alone cannot confirm or exclude infection. When symptoms occur, they can resemble a general viral illness: low appetite, nausea, vomiting, fever, joint aches, or discomfort beneath the ribs on the right. Yellow skin or eyes, pale stools, or dark urine can occur when liver processing is affected. Fatigue may continue after other symptoms settle; see more about [Fatigue](/symptoms/fatigue/). Dark urine has several possible causes, so read about [Dark Urine](/symptoms/dark-urine/) without assuming hepatitis B is responsible.

Arrange a medical assessment if you have symptoms that could involve the liver, have had a possible exposure, or know that a household or sexual contact has hepatitis B. A clinician may use blood tests to look for infection and liver inflammation; a [Liver Function Test](/treatments/diagnostics-and-screening/liver-function-test/) is one part of that assessment. Until you have advice, avoid sharing razors or toothbrushes, cover open cuts, and do not donate blood. Do not stop prescribed medicines without discussing them.

Seek urgent medical help for confusion, unusual sleepiness, repeated vomiting, severe abdominal pain, bleeding, or rapidly worsening yellowing. Contact a clinician promptly for new yellow skin or eyes, very dark urine with pale stools, or marked weakness. If a recent exposure is possible, seek advice quickly because preventive treatment may be time-sensitive.

Ask which blood tests are needed, whether your liver needs monitoring, how to protect people you live with, and whether [Hepatitis B Vaccination](/treatments/preventive-care-and-vaccination/hepatitis-b-vaccination/) is appropriate for contacts. You can also ask whether your symptoms could have another cause.