Hepatitis A infection is caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV).

When infected by hepatitis A virus, adolescents and adults are more inclined than young kids to develop indications of disease, including fever, weakness, nausea, abdominal pain, dark urine, and yellow eyes and skin, and are more likely to experience severe disease.

Symptoms usually last under two months, but 10% to 15% of these infected may have prolonged or relapsing disease lasting as much as six months. Unlike hepatitis B and C, chronic hepatitis A disease does not occur. Unfortunately, every year within the U.S. 125,000 to 200,000 people become sick with hepatitis A. In the united states, 70 to 100 people die? mostly those with underlying liver disease.

Most hepatitis A illness happens in community-wide outbreaks. Herpes virus is most often spread in stool, although it could be spread through connection with infected blood. Infection is transmitted from person to person in households and relatives settings. Outbreaks sometimes occur when many people have eaten from the same hepatitis A-infected meal source but nearly half of individuals have no identified risk factor. Infected people are probably to spread hepatitis A virus throughout the two-week period before they are fully aware they’re infected. Since most infected pre-school children show no the signs of hepatitis A infection, they frequently unknowingly distribute the hepatitis A virus to others.

Before the introduction of  hepatitis A, about one-third from the hepatitis A cases in the U.S. occurred in children 5 to 14 years old. The lowest rate of infection is at adults a lot more than 40 years old. The rates of infection and disease were much greater in some areas of the country than the others.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is an RNA virus of a single serotype. Infection usually causes clinical hepatitis in adults and school-aged children but is often asymptomatic in younger children. Jaundice develops in < 10% of children 6 years and under. Typical symptoms of illness include anorexia, nausea, fatigue, fever and jaundice. The severity of the illness increases with age. Recovery often takes 4 to 6 weeks but may take months. Recurrent hepatitis for up to a year occurs in about 15% of cases, but longer chronic infection is not known to occur. About 25% of reported adult cases require hospitalization. Fulminant disease with liver necrosis is rare but can be fatal. Individuals with pre-existing chronic liver disease are at increased risk of serious complications from HAV infection. The overall estimated case fatality rate associated with hepatitis A is 0.1% to 0.3%, but this rises to 1.8% in persons over the age of 50. It reaches 12.5% in patients over the age of 60 who are hospitalized due to the disease.

Since the publication of the 2002 Canadian Immunization Guide, new data happen to be obtained on the epidemiology of hepatitis A in Canada as well as on the immunization coverage of travellers to endemic countries.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is an RNA virus of merely one serotype. Infection usually causes clinical hepatitis in adults and school-aged children but is often asymptomatic in younger children. Jaundice develops in < 10Percent of kids 6 many under. Typical symptoms of illness include anorexia, nausea, fatigue, fever and jaundice. The seriousness of the illness increases with age. Recovery normally takes four to six weeks but might take months. Recurrent hepatitis for up to a year occurs in about 15% of cases, but longer chronic infection isn’t recognized to occur. About 25% of reported adult cases require hospitalization. Fulminant disease with liver necrosis is rare but can be fatal. Individuals with pre-existing chronic liver disease are at increased risk of serious complications from HAV infection. The entire estimated case fatality rate related to hepatitis A is 0.1% to 0.3%, but this rises to 1.8% in persons older than 50. It reaches 12.5% in patients over the age of 60 who’re hospitalized due to the disease.

Because the publication of the 2002 Canadian Immunization Guide, new data happen to be obtained on the epidemiology of hepatitis A in Canada as well as on the immunization coverage of travellers to endemic countries.

HAV is most often transmitted through the fecal-oral route, through direct contact with infected people or indirectly through ingestion of contaminated water or foods. On rare occasions, transmission continues to be reported after contact with HAV-contaminated blood or blood products. It also occurs through sexual activities that include direct or indirect oro-anal contact although not through exposure to saliva, semen or urine. The virus may persist for days or weeks in the environment. Shedding of the virus in feces and thus maximum infectiousness occurs throughout the latter part of the incubation period with peak levels within the 2 weeks before clinical illness. Infectiousness diminishes rapidly thereafter and ends shortly after the start of jaundice. Humans are the principal reservoir for HAV. Persistent infection does not occur. The incubation period ranges from 15 to 50 days with an average of 20 to 30 days. Lifelong immunity usually follows infection.

In Canada, between 1990 and 2004 the amount of cases of HAV infection reported annually varied from 3,562 (1991) to 396 (2003), representing rates of 10.8 and 1.2 per 100,000 population respectively. Throughout this era, there has been outbreaks involving men that have relations with men  in main Canadian cities. Because the introduction of the vaccine in 1996, no new major outbreak has occurred, and the incidence rate has slowly decreased. It is not known whether this really is due to the impact of the targeted immunization programs. There is no info on the proportion of targeted groups being immunized, but it’s likely low. The estimated coverage in MSM after the huge immunization campaign during the Montreal outbreak was only 35%. Within Canada, there have been considerable geographic variations within the reported incidence, and this is observed even during periods of decline nationally. In the 5 year period of 1999 to 2004, no substantial sex difference in reported rates was observed. In 2004, the reported rate was 1.4 among females and 1.6 among males per 100,000 population. Age-specific incidence was highest among those 15-24 years old with a rate of 2.3 per 100,000 population, followed closely by those aged 5-14.

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Hepatitis may be the Greek term for liver inflammation. It is characterised by the damage of a number of liver cells and also the presence of inflammatory cells in the liver tissue.

Hepatitis can be caused by viruses that mainly attack the liver cells, for example hepatitis A and B. Patients with glandular fever, brought on by the Epstein-Barr virus, may also suffer from a panic attack of hepatitis.

Hepatitis can be divided into 2 subgroups according to its duration:

• acute hepatitis – lasting under 6 months
• chronic hepatitis – staying longer than 6 months.

What can cause acute hepatitis?

Acute hepatitis has a number of possible causes.

• Infectious viral hepatitis, for example hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D and hepatitis E.
• Other viral diseases, for example glandular fever and cytomegalovirus.
• Severe bacterial infections.
• Amoebic infections.
• Medicines, eg paracetamol poisoning and halothane (an anaesthetic).
• Harmful toxins: alcohol and fungal toxins, eg toadstool poisoning.

What can cause chronic hepatitis?

Persistent hepatitis also offers a number of different causes.

• Infectious hepatitis, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and hepatitis D.
• Drug reactions.
• Toxins, for example alcohol.
• Autoimmune hepatitis. This is a disease in which a number of liver cells are destroyed through the patient’s own defense mechanisms. Autoimmune hepatitis can also sometimes occur as acute hepatitis. The reason is unknown.
• Inborn metabolic disorders, such as Wilson’s disease (disorder of the body’s copper metabolism) and haemochromatosis (disorder from the body’s iron metabolism).

How can you get hepatitis ?

A person can develop hepatitis if they contract among the viruses that can cause liver inflammation, or as a result of exposure to substances that induce hepatitis – alcohol, fungal toxins and certain medicines.

There are two ways medicines can cause hepatitis: it can either occur as a result of medicine poisoning through overdoses of a medicine (eg paracetamol), or it can occur as a result of an abnormal reaction of the liver to a normal dose (eg halothane, the anaesthetic). Fortunately, the latter type of hepatitis is rare.

Do you know the the signs of hepatitis?

Acute hepatitis

The symptoms of acute hepatitis vary considerably for every person. Some patients have no symptoms at all, and in most cases, children only show mild symptoms.
In the first stages:

• tiredness, general malaise, slight fever
• nausea, poor appetite, changes in taste perception
• pressure or pain below the best ribs caused by an enlarged liver
• aching muscles and joints, headache, skin rash.

The jaundiced phase:

• yellowing of sclerae (the whites from the eyes), pores and skin and mucous membranes
• dark urine
• light-coloured stools
• around this time, the other signs and symptoms subside.

The recovery phase:

• tiredness that may are weeks.

Persistent hepatitis

• Many patients have no symptoms.
• Tiredness, a heightened need for sleep, aching muscles and joints.
• Periodic light pressure or pain below the right ribs – enlarged liver.
• Jaundice is a very late characteristic of chronic hepatitis. It is a sign that the disease has become serious.

Who’s vulnerable to hepatitis ?

• Patients with jaundice or other symptoms of hepatitis.
• People in high risk groups.
• People who are at increased risk as a result of hereditary kind of hepatitis within their families.

How can hepatitis be avoided ?

• By avoiding contact with the infectious hepatitis viruses.
• By being vaccinated against hepatitis A and hepatitis B, for those who have a bad risk of being infected.
• By refraining from drinking large amounts of alcohol.

What you can do in your own home ?

• Avoid alcohol consumption if you’ve the signs of hepatitis or if a blood sample has shown that the disease is active.
• If alcoholism is the cause, you have to stop drinking completely and see your doctor. Eat a well-balanced diet.
• If you have symptoms of acute hepatitis, you may need to decelerate. However, if you feel fine, there is no reason why you should not start working and keep up your alternative activities.
• If you have hepatitis A and your job involves food handling, your doctor will advise you on when it’s safe to return to work
• If you have chronic hepatitis, try to lead an ordinary life as far as possible.
• People who have hepatitis B must inform their family and their sexual partners about it. Sexual along with other close contacts will have to protect themselves by being vaccinated. Condoms should be used until the vaccine has begun to work.
• If you have hepatitis A, you must inform your family, to enable them to protect themselves against it by practising good hygiene and seek advice on vaccination and other preventive measures.
• If you’ve chronic hepatitis, you ought to have regular clinic review because of your specialist.

How is hepatitis identified ?

Blood tests will help determine the cause and harshness of the hepatitis.

Further information may be from ultrasound along with other kinds of liver scans.

In certain situations a liver biopsy may be recommended. This involves taking a tiny bit of the liver to check out underneath the microscope. The procedure is generally done under local anaesthetic as a day case in a specialist unit.

Potential customers

Acute infectious viral hepatitis usually improves with no specific treatment.

Acute infection isn’t life-threatening.

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C may become chronic. Hepatitis A never does.

Acute hepatitis brought on by medicines or alcohol usually improves once the liver is no longer exposed to these substances.

About one fifth of the patients with chronic hepatitis B and C are at chance of developing cirrhosis or cancer of the liver can.

Cirrhosis may also be caused by other kinds of chronic hepatitis.

How is hepatitis treated ?

• No medical treatment method is usually necessary for acute viral hepatitis.
• Chronic hepatitis B can be treated with interferon alfa or other antiviral agents.
• Chronic hepatitis C may be treatable with interferon alfa and ribavirin (tribavirin).
• Autoimmune hepatitis can by treated with corticosteroids.

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