Viral hepatitis; Infectious hepatitis
Prevention
The following tips can help reduce your risk of spreading or catching the virus:
- Always wash your hands thoroughly after using the restroom and when you come in contact with an infected person's blood, stools, or other bodily fluid.
- Avoid unclean food and water.
The virus may spread more rapidly through day care centers and other places where people are in close contact. Thorough hand washing before and after each diaper change, before serving food, and after using the restroom may help prevent such outbreaks.
If you have recently been exposed to hepatitis A and have not had hepatitis A before or have not received the hepatitis A vaccine series, ask your doctor or nurse about receiving either immune globulin or the hepatitis A vaccine. Common reasons why you may need to receive one or both of these include:
- You live with someone who has hepatitis A
- You recently had sexual contact with someone who has hepatitis A
- You recently shared illegal drugs, either injected or noninjected, with someone who has hepatitis A
- You have had close personal contact over a period of time with someone who has hepatitis A
- You have eaten in a restaurant where food or food handlers were found to be infected or contaminated with hepatitis A
Previous Section
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)
