Z22. 51 Carrier of viral hepatitis B - ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Codes.
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.
(Chronic means long-lasting.) It is chronic hepatitis B that leads to inflammation and the serious, and possibly fatal, illnesses of cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer.
People who test positive for the hepatitis B virus for more than six months (after their first blood test result) are diagnosed as having a chronic infection. This means their immune system was not able to get rid of the hepatitis B virus and it still remains in their blood and liver.
It can lead to cirrhosis, or hardening of the organ. It scars over and stops working. Some people also get liver cancer. If you're a carrier or are infected with hepatitis B, don't donate blood, plasma, body organs, tissue, or sperm.
The second subset is called the 'inactive HBsAg carrier state'. It means a persistent HBV infection of the liver but without continual significant necroinflammatory disease. It is characterized by very low or undetectable serum HBV DNA levels and normal serum aminotransferases 1.
Acute hepatitis B virus infection resolves in 95 percent of patients within one year. The remaining 5 percent have persistent infection and become chronic carriers. In the United States, there are nearly one million carriers, who are at increased risk of developing immune-complex disorders and liver diseases.
Inactive hepatitis B virus (HBV) carrier state is defined according to European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) by chronic HBV infection evolves at least for 6 months, associated with normal ALT (Alanine aminotransferase), undetectable or very low serum HBV DNA levels below 2000 IU/ml, HBeAg negative, ...
There's no cure for hepatitis B. The good news is it usually goes away by itself in 4 to 8 weeks. More than 9 out of 10 adults who get hepatitis B totally recover. However, about 1 in 20 people who get hepatitis B as adults become “carriers,” which means they have a chronic (long-lasting) hepatitis B infection.
Convalescent carriers are those who have recovered from their illness but remain capable of transmitting to others. Chronic carriers are those who continue to harbor a pathogen such as hepatitis B virus or Salmonella Typhi, the causative agent of typhoid fever, for months or even years after their initial infection.
The estimated carrier life expectancy is 71.8 years, as compared to 76.2 years among noncarriers (Figure 5). These results are consistent with other estimates, which indicate that 15% to 40% of HBV carriers die of liver complications.
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.