People at Greater Risk

• Infants born to mothers with hepatitis B or C
• Children in daycare centers
• Childcare workers who change diapers or toilet train children
• Men who have sex with men
• People who have anal sex
• People who have multiple sex partners
• People who inject illicit drugs and share needles

Lifestyle Factors

• Having close contact with someone who has the disease
• Using household items that were used by an infected person and not properly cleaned
• Having sexual contact with multiple partners
• Having sexual contact with someone who has hepatitis or a sexually transmitted disease
• Injecting drugs, especially if you use shared needles
• Using cocaine
• Getting a tattoo or body piercing—The needles may not be properly sterilized.
• Having a job that involves contact with bodily fluids, such as:
  • Caring for children who are not toilet-trained
  • First aid or emergency worker
  • Funeral director
  • Healthcare workers
  • Dentist
  • Dental assistant
  • Firefighter
  • Police personnel
• For hepatitis A or E: traveling to a country where hepatitis A or E is common or where there is poor sanitation

Conditions and Procedures

Conditions and procedures that increase the risk of hepatitis include:

• Hemophilia or other disorders of blood clotting
• Kidney disease requiring hemodialysis
• Receiving a blood transfusion, especially prior to 1992 when better screening tests were developed
• Receiving multiple transfusions of blood or blood products
• Receiving a solid organ transplant, especially prior to 1992 when improved screening tests were developed
• Persistent elevation of certain liver function tests (found in people with undiagnosed liver problems)
• Sexually transmitted disease