How is Hepatitis B characterized in terms of its disease type?

Hepatitis B is characterized as a chronic disease because, while it can start with an acute phase, a significant number of individuals go on to develop a chronic infection if the virus is not cleared from the body within six months. Chronic Hepatitis B can lead to serious health issues such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer over time. The disease persists in the body for an extended period, in some cases for the individual's entire life, influencing its classification as chronic rather than acute.

In contrast, acute diseases are typically short-term and resolve within a few weeks without lasting effects. Contagious disease refers to any disease that can be transmitted from one person to another; while Hepatitis B is indeed contagious, this classification alone does not fully encompass its long-term implications. Lastly, the term curable disease implies that there is a definitive treatment that completely clears the disease from the body, which does not apply to Hepatitis B, as chronic cases often require ongoing management rather than a complete cure.