The body's immune response is the major defence against acute hepatitis B. When a person is infected with Hepatitis B virus, the acute self-limiting form of the infection is cleared spontaneously within weeks to months. Children are less likely than adults to clear the infection. More than 95% of people who become infected as adults or older children will have full recovery and develop protective immunity to the virus. However, this capacity to clear the virus drops for younger children, and only 5% of newborns that acquire the infection from their mother at birth will clear the infection.
Attribution: Avallain