Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is a contagious liver infection caused by hepatitis A virus, usually spread through contaminated food, water, close contact, or poor sanitation.
What hepatitis A is
Hepatitis A is an acute liver infection caused by hepatitis A virus, often shortened to HAV. The illness can range from no symptoms to weeks of fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, dark urine, and jaundice. Most people recover fully, but severe disease can occur, especially in older adults or people with existing liver disease.
How it spreads
HAV spreads when tiny amounts of stool from an infected person reach another person's mouth. That can happen through contaminated food or water, close personal contact, sexual contact, or poor hand hygiene. People can spread the virus before they know they are sick, which makes outbreak control harder.
Symptoms
Symptoms may include fever, tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, dark urine, pale stools, joint pain, and yellowing of the skin or eyes. Children often have mild or unnoticed infection, while adults are more likely to feel ill and develop jaundice.
Diagnosis
Clinicians diagnose hepatitis A using symptoms, exposure history, liver blood tests, and specific blood tests for recent HAV infection. Because several liver diseases can look similar at first, testing helps separate hepatitis A from hepatitis B, hepatitis C, medication injury, alcohol-related liver disease, and other causes.
Treatment and recovery
There is no specific antiviral treatment for hepatitis A. Care focuses on rest, fluids, nutrition, avoiding alcohol, and medical monitoring when symptoms are severe. Some people need hospital care for dehydration, vomiting, severe liver inflammation, or signs of liver failure, but most recover without lasting liver damage.
Vaccination and post-exposure protection
Hepatitis A vaccine is the main prevention tool and is recommended for children and for adults with certain risks or who want protection. After exposure, hepatitis A vaccine or immune globulin may prevent infection if given soon enough. Which option fits depends on age, health history, timing, and public-health guidance.
Outbreaks
Outbreaks can occur through contaminated foods, person-to-person spread, homelessness settings, drug use networks, childcare settings, travel, or close-contact communities. Public-health response may include case interviews, vaccination clinics, food traceback, sanitation measures, and alerts to exposed people.
Prevention habits
Good handwashing after using the bathroom, changing diapers, and before preparing food reduces spread. Travelers to areas with higher hepatitis A risk should ask about vaccination and follow food and water precautions. Restaurants, schools, shelters, and households all rely on hygiene plus vaccination when risk is elevated.
Why it matters
Hepatitis A matters because a liver infection can begin with something as ordinary as shared food, water, or close contact. The disease is usually temporary, but outbreaks can disrupt communities and can be dangerous for people with vulnerable livers. Vaccination turns a messy transmission problem into a preventable one.