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Hepatitis A - Overview

Alternative Names

Viral hepatitis; Infectious hepatitis

Definition of Hepatitis A:

Hepatitis A is inflammation (irritation and swelling) of the liver from the hepatitis A virus.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

The hepatitis A virus is found mostly in the stools and blood of an infected person about 15 - 45 days before symptoms occur and during the first week of illness.

You can catch hepatitis A if:

You eat or drink food or water that has been contaminated by stools (feces) containing the hepatitis A virus (fruits, vegetables, shellfish, ice, and water are common sources of the hepatitis A virus)
You come in contact with the stool or blood of a person who currently has the disease
A person with hepatitis A does not wash his or her hands properly after going to the bathroom and touches other objects or food
You participate in sexual practices that involve oral-anal contact

About 3,600 cases of hepatitis A are reported each year. Because not everyone has symptoms with hepatitis A infection, many more people are infected than are diagnosed or reported.

Risk factors include:

International travel, especially to Asia or South or Central America
IV drug use
Living in a nursing home or rehabilitation center
Working in a health care, food, or sewage industry

Other common hepatitis virus infections include hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Hepatitis A is the least serious and mildest of these diseases. The other hepatitis infections may become chronic illnesses, but hepatitis A does not become chronic.

Digestive system

Fly

Hepatitis A

Erythema multiforme, circular lesions - hands

Digestive system organs

Reviewed last on: 11/23/2010
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and George F. Longstreth, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, San Diego, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Recommended immunization schedules for children, adolescents, and adults -- United States, 2010 (accessed November 9, 2010).

Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Update: Prevention of hepatitis A after exposure to hepatitis A virus and in international travelers. Updated recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2007;56:1080-1084.

Hoofnagle JH. Acute viral hepatitis. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier;2007:chap 151.

Sjogren MH, Cheatham JG. Hepatitis A. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010:chap 77.

Victor JC, Monto AS, Surdina TY, Suleimenova SZ, Vaughan G, Nainan OV, Favorov MO, Margolis HS, Bell BP. Hepatitis A vaccine versus immune globulin for postexposure prophylaxis. N Engl J Med. 2007;357:1685-1694.

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