Hepatitis A is a vaccine-preventable liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). HAV is found in the stool and blood of people who are infected. Hepatitis A is very contagious. It is spread when someone unknowingly ingests the virus — even in microscopic amounts — through close personal contact with an infected person or through eating contaminated food or drink. Symptoms of hepatitis A can last up to 2 months and include fatigue, nausea, stomach pain, and jaundice. Most people with hepatitis A do not have long-lasting illness. The best way to prevent hepatitis A is to get vaccinated.
Hepatitis A is transmitted through the fecal-oral route. This can happen through:
- Close person-to-person contact with an infected person
- Sexual contact with an infected person
- Ingestion of contaminated food or water
Although viremia occurs early in infection, current data indicate that bloodborne transmission of hepatitis A virus is uncommon.
Among older children and adults, infection is typically symptomatic. Symptoms usually occur abruptly and can include the following:
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Abdominal pain
- Dark urine
- Diarrhea
- Clay-colored stool
- Joint pain
- Jaundice
Most (70%) of infections in children younger than age 6 are not accompanied by symptoms. When symptoms are present, young children typically do not have jaundice; most (>70%) older children and adults with HAV infection have this symptom