Department of Health

Website of the Department of Health

Please note that this website has a UK government access keys system.

Hepatitis B key documents

Key hepatitis B publications for patients and practitioners.

Travel safe: reducing the risk of getting a blood-borne infection when you're abroad

Published: 2 April 2008

The Department of Health has launched a new information leaflet, Travelsafe, which offers advice on how people travelling abroad can minimise their risks of becoming infected with HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C.

Hepatitis B infected healthcare workers and antiviral therapy

Published: 16 March 2007

These guidelines provide advice on the criteria and arrangements for allowing certain healthcare workers infected with hepatitis B to perform exposure prone procedures while taking continuous antiviral therapy.

Health clearance for tuberculosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV: New healthcare workers

Published: 16 March 2007

This guidance provides advice on health clearance of new healthcare workers for tuberculosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.

Children in need and bloodborne viruses: HIV and hepatitis

Published: 05/11/2004

This document replaces guidance on prevention and testing in Children and HIV: Guidance for local authorities (1992) and includes advice about hepatitis B and C. Subjects covered include preventing bloodborne virus transmission, testing for bloodborne viruses and useful sources of information and advice.

Getting ahead of the curve: a strategy for combating infectious diseases (including other aspects of health protection)

Published: 10/01/2002

This sets out an infectious diseases strategy for England. It aims to describe the scope of the threat posed by infectious diseases, as well as establishing the priorities for action to combat the threat.

Hepatitis B infected health care workers: Guidance on implementation of Health Service Circular 2000/020

Published: 23/06/2000

This guidance is intended to assist in implementation of Health Service Circular (HSC) 2000/020 Hepatitis B Infected Health Care Workers.

Protecting health care workers and patients from hepatitis B

The new guidance recommends that carriers of the hepatitis B virus who are known to be e-antigen positive must not carry out procedures where there is a risk that injury to themselves will result in their blood contaminating a patient's open tissues. Such procedures are termed 'exposure prone procedures' and are described in paragraph 3.4 of the guidance.

Information for midwives: hepatitis B testing in pregnancy

Published: 01/01/2000

Department of Health publication

Hepatitis B: How to protect your baby (2002)

This document outlines what hepatitis B is and how it can affect babies.

HSC 1998/127: screening of pregnant women for hepatitis B and immunisation of babies at risk

Published: 22 July 1998

The National Screening Committee has recommended that all pregnant women should be offered antenatal screening for hepatitis B. 

Screening for infectious diseases in pregnancy: Standards to support the UK antenatal screening programme

Published: 11/08/2003

These generic and disease-specific standards cover screening for rubella antibody, syphilis, HIV and hepatitis B, the four infections currently included in the UK antenatal-screening programme.

Hepatitis B immunisation of homosexual and bisexual men attending GUM clinics: provision of extra vaccine

Published: 20/06/2002

The Department of Health is providing centrally purchased hepatitis B vaccine to Genito Urinary Medicine (GUM) clinics in 2002/2003-2004/2005 as part of implementation of the sexual health and HIV strategy. The strategy proposes improving the uptake of hepatitis B immunisation by homosexual and bisexual men attending GUM clinics. The letter announces vaccine distribution details.

Guidance for clinical health care workers: protection against infection with blood-borne viruses

This booklet contains guidance on measures to protect clinical health care workers (HCWs) against occupational infection with blood-borne viruses (BBVs). It is based on the recommendations of the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS and the Advisory Group on Hepatitis. It draws also on work done by the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens and the Microbiology Advisory Committee.

Prevalence of HIV and hepatitis infections in the United Kingdom 2000 annual report of the unlinked anonymous prevalence monitoring programme

Prevalence of HIV and hepatitis infections in the United Kingdom 2000 annual report of the unlinked anonymous prevalence monitoring programme

Good practice guidelines for renal dialysis/transplantation units: prevention and control of blood-borne virus infection

Published: 03/09/2002

This guidance contains recommendations of the working group convened by the Public Health Laboratory Service on behalf of the Department of Health. It applies primarily to renal haemodialysis units but aspects will also apply to other units.

Green book

The Green Book is a publicly available document on immunisation against infectious disease, which charts the history of immunisation and immunisation advice over the years since this kind of preventative treatment was first used in 1786. This edition was published in 1996, the bicentennial year of Edward Jenner's world-changing discovery.

Access keys