Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
- Images
Hepatitis A is inflammation (irritation and swelling) of the liver from the hepatitis A virus.
See also:
Hepatitis Hepatitis A vaccine Hepatitis B Hepatitis C
Alternative Names
Viral hepatitis; Infectious hepatitis
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
Review Date: 11/23/2010
Reviewed By: 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.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
