It is common to feel more tired than normal, so you may need to get plenty of rest. There is no specific treatment of hepatitis A - it normally gets better without any treatment. If you are currently, or were very recently, infected with hepatitis A, you will have both the IgG and the IgM antibody in your blood. This antibody will always be positive if you have had hepatitis A in the past, or been vaccinated for hepatitis A. Your doctor can tell if you had hepatitis A in the past by testing your blood for the hepatitis A IgG antibody.

Have sexual contact with someone who has hepatitis Aĭiagnosis is made by the detection of HAV-specific antibodies in the blood.

Have clotting-factor disorders, such as haemophilia.

Use illegal drugs, whether injected or not.

Travel to or live in areas where hepatitis A is common.

Symptoms usually last less than 2 months, although some people can be ill for as long as 6 months.Īnyone who has not been vaccinated or previously infected can get infected with the hepatitis A virus. If symptoms develop, they usually appear 2 to 7 weeks after infection and can include: Adults are more likely to have symptoms than children. Not everyone with hepatitis A has symptoms. The virus can also be spread through blood to blood contact but this is rare. The virus can also be transmitted through close physical contact (such as oral-anal sex) with an infectious person, although casual contact among people does not spread the virus. This means that the virus is passed out in bowel motions (faeces) and finds its way into the mouth (orally) usually through close contact with someone who has the virus, or through food and water contaminated by sewage or the hepatitis A virus. The hepatitis A virus is transmitted primarily by the faecal-oral route. In rare cases, hepatitis A can cause liver failure and even death this is more common in older people and in people with other serious health issues, such as chronic liver disease.

People who get hepatitis A may feel sick for a few weeks to several months but usually recover completely and do not have lasting liver damage. The virus is spread when an uninfected person ingests food or water that is contaminated with the faeces of an infected person.

Hepatitis A is an inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV).

Hepatitis a transmission oysters