Can Hepatitis B Be Transmitted on the Football Field?
Sept. 21, 2000 — Broken bones and concussions aren’t the only hazards football players face on the field, a new study has found. Hepatitis B, a blood-borne virus that attacks the liver and can last a lifetime, can be spread among team sports players through contact with other players’ wounds during training, according to a Japanese study of a football team. The study, which appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine, identified 11 cases of hepatitis B among the Okayama University’s football team during a 19-month period. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can cause lifelong infection, scarring of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and potentially death. It is known to be transmitted through blood transfusions, intravenous drug use, and sex with an HBV-infected partner, and the new study suggests that transmission is also possible in contact sports. Each year in the U.S., more than 200,000 people of all ages get hepatitis B, and close to 5,000 die as a result of HBV, according to statistic
