Hepatitis D

October 2007     View PDF     En español

How do you get hepatitis D?

First, the only way you can get HDV is if you get or already have hepatitis B. If you have been vaccinated against HBV or have already had and cleared it, you will not get HDV.

HDV is passed in similar ways as HBV. It is most often passed through blood and blood products. This includes sharing personal items like a toothbrush or razor, touching blood, or sharing drugs or works (cotton, cookers, water) when doing drugs. (Hepatitis D most often affects injecting drug users.) It is less often passed through sex and is rarely passed from a mother to her baby during birth.

People with chronic hepatitis D can pass the virus on to others. Hepatitis D is not spread through food or water; by casual contact like shaking hands, hugging or kissing; or by sharing eating utensils, nursing, coughing or sneezing.