The hepatitis B, C, and D viruses can cause acute and chronic, or long-lasting, infections. Chronic hepatitis occurs when your body isn't able to fight off the hepatitis virus and the virus does not go away. Chronic hepatitis can lead to complications such as cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer link.
Chronic viral hepatitis B18-
When a person is first infected with the hepatitis B virus, it is called an "acute infection" (or a new infection). Many people are able to naturally get rid of an acute infection. If the infection persists for more than 6 months, it is considered a “chronic infection.”
Hepatitis B is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus. Some people with hepatitis B are sick for only a few weeks (known as “acute” infection), but for others, the disease progresses to a serious, lifelong illness known as chronic hepatitis B.
2022 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code Z11. 59: Encounter for screening for other viral diseases.
ICD-10-CM Code for Liver disease, unspecified K76. 9.
If you test positive for HBsAg for longer than six months, it means you have a chronic hepatitis B infection. But, if you no longer test positive (or “reactive”) for HBsAg after six months and you develop hepatitis B surface antibodies (HBsAb), then you have cleared hepatitis B after an “acute” infection.
Hepatitis B carriers are people living with asymptomatic chronic hepatitis B. Although they do not experience any symptoms, they can still pass the infection to others. They are also at risk of developing complications, such as liver damage.
If the period of inflammation or hepatocellular injury lasts for less than six months, characterized by normalization of the liver function tests, it is called acute hepatitis. In contrast, if the inflammation or hepatocellular injury persists beyond six months, it is termed chronic hepatitis.
Hepatitis B is spread when blood, semen, or other body fluids from a person infected with the virus enters the body of someone who is not infected. This can happen through sexual contact; sharing needles, syringes, or other drug-injection equipment; or from mother to baby at birth.
Acute illnesses generally develop suddenly and last a short time, often only a few days or weeks. Chronic conditions develop slowly and may worsen over an extended period of time—months to years.
Chronic infection is characterized by the continued presence of infectious virus following the primary infection and may include chronic or recurrent disease. Slow infection is characterized by a prolonged incubation period followed by progressive disease.