Treatment
People with the acute phase of hepatitis B do not require treatment. For the majority of people, the symptoms resolve, and you can ‘clear’ the infection, usually within six months, meaning you are no longer infectious; your blood will always show the hepatitis B antibodies but you should never be infected again (you become ‘immune’).
Long term infection or chronic hepatitis B is very difficult to cure but treatment can stop or reduce the activity of the virus, stopping it from damaging the liver.
Not everyone will require treatment straight away. If you have low levels of the virus in your blood (a low viral load) and there is little sign of liver damage, it is likely that regular monitoring will be recommended, and treatment started only if there are signs of disease progression.
The time frame before treatment is required will vary with each person; it may be several years. Once treatment is started it may need to be continued long term.