Hepatitis A is a viral liver disease that can cause mild to severe illness.
Globally, there are an estimated 1.4 million cases of hepatitis A every year.
The hepatitis A virus is transmitted through ingestion of contaminated food and water, or through direct contact with an infectious person.
Hepatitis A is associated with a lack of safe water and poor sanitation.
Epidemics can be explosive in growth and cause significant economic losses.
Improved sanitation and the hepatitis A vaccine are the most effective ways to combat the disease.
IHepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. The virus is primarily spread when an uninfected (and unvaccinated) person ingests food or water that is contaminated with the faeces of an infected person. The disease is closely associated with a lack of safe water, inadequate sanitation and poor personal hygiene.
Unlike hepatitis B and C, hepatitis A infection does not cause chronic liver disease and is rarely fatal, but it can cause debilitating symptoms and fulminant hepatitis (acute liver failure), which is associated with high mortality.
Hepatitis A occurs sporadically and in epidemics worldwide, with a tendency for cyclic recurrences. Every year there are an estimated 1.4 million cases of hepatitis A worldwide.
The hepatitis A virus is one of the most frequent causes of foodborne infection. Epidemics related to contaminated food or water can erupt explosively, such as the epidemic in Shanghai in 1988 that affected about 300 000 people. Hepatitis A viruses persist in the environment and can resist food-production processes routinely used to inactivate and/or control bacterial pathogens.
The disease can lead to significant economic and social consequences in communities. It can take weeks or months for people recovering from the illness to return to work, school or daily life. The impact on food establishments identified with the virus, and local productivity in general, can be substantial.
Geographical distribution
Geographical distribution areas can be characterized as having high, intermediate or low levels of hepatitis A infection.
Areas with high levels of infection
In developing countries with very poor sanitary conditions and hygienic practices, most children (90%) have been infected with the hepatitis A virus before the age of 10. Those infected in childhood do not experience any noticeable symptoms. Epidemics are uncommon because older children and adults are generally immune. Symptomatic diseases rates in these areas are low and outbreaks are rare.
Areas with intermediate levels of infection
In developing countries, countries with transitional economies and regions where sanitary conditions are variable, children often escape infection in early childhood. Ironically, these improved economic and sanitary conditions may lead to a higher susceptibility in older age groups and higher disease rates, as infections occur in adolescents and adults, and large outbreaks can occur.
Areas with low levels of infection
In developed countries with good sanitary and hygienic conditions, infection rates are low. Disease may occur among adolescents and adults in high-risk groups, such as injecting-drug users, men who have sex with men, people travelling to areas of high endemicity, and in isolated populations such as closed religious communities.
Transmission
The hepatitis A virus is transmitted primarily by the faecal-oral route. This is when an uninfected person ingests food or water that has been contaminated with the faeces of an infected person. Waterborne outbreaks, though infrequent, are usually associated with sewage-contaminated or inadequately treated water.
The virus can also be transmitted through close physical contact with an infectious person, although casual contact among people does not spread the virus.
Symptoms
The incubation period of hepatitis A is usually 14–28 days.
Symptoms of hepatitis A range from mild to severe, and can include fever, malaise, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal discomfort, dark-coloured urine and jaundice (a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes). Not everyone who is infected will have all of the symptoms.
Adults have signs and symptoms of illness more often than children, and the severity of disease and mortality increases in older age groups. Infected children under six years of age do not usually experience noticeable symptoms, and only 10% develop jaundice. Among older children and adults, infection usually causes more severe symptoms, with jaundice occurring in more than 70% of cases.
Who is at risk?
Anyone who has not been vaccinated or previously infected can contract hepatitis A. In areas where the virus is widespread (high endemicity), most hepatitis A infections occur during early childhood. Risk factors include:
poor sanitation
lack of safe water
injecting drugs
living in a household with an infected person
being a sexual partner of someone with acute hepatitis A infection
travelling to areas of high endemicity without being immunized.
Treatment
There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A. Recovery from symptoms following infection may be slow and may take several weeks or months. Therapy is aimed at maintaining comfort and adequate nutritional balance, including replacement of fluids that are lost from vomiting and diarrhoea.
Prevention
Improved sanitation, food safety and immunization are the most effective ways to combat hepatitis A.
The spread of hepatitis A can be reduced by:
adequate supplies of safe drinking water
proper disposal of sewage within communities
personal hygiene practices such as regular hand-washing with safe water.
Several hepatitis A vaccines are available internationally. All are similar in terms of how well they protect people from the virus and their side-effects. No vaccine is licensed for children younger than one year of age.
Nearly 100% of people develop protective levels of antibodies to the virus within one month after a single dose of the vaccine. Even after exposure to the virus, a single dose of the vaccine within two weeks of contact with the virus has protective effects. Still, manufacturers recommend two vaccine doses to ensure a longer-term protection of about five to eight years after vaccination.
Millions of people have been immunized worldwide with no serious adverse events. The vaccine can be given as part of regular childhood immunizations programmes and also with other vaccines for travellers.
Immunization efforts
Vaccination against hepatitis A should be part of a comprehensive plan for the prevention and control of viral hepatitis. Planning for large-scale immunization programmes should involve careful economic evaluations and consider alternative or additional prevention methods, such as improved sanitation, and health education for improved hygiene practices.
Whether or not to include the vaccine in routine childhood immunizations depends on the local context, including the proportion of susceptible people in the population and the level of exposure to the virus. Several countries, including Argentina, China, Israel and the United States of America have introduced the vaccine in routine childhood immunizations.
While the two-dose regimen of inactivated hepatitis A vaccine is used in many countries, other countries may consider inclusion of a single-dose inactivated hepatitis A vaccine in their immunization schedules. Some countries also recommend the vaccine for people at increased risk of hepatitis A, including:
travellers to countries where the virus is endemic;
men who have sex with men;
people with chronic liver disease (because of their increased risk of serious complications if they acquire hepatitis A infection).
Regarding immunization for outbreak response, recommendations for hepatitis A vaccination should also be site-specific, including the feasibility of rapidly implementing a widespread immunization campaign.
Vaccination to control community-wide outbreaks is most successful in small communities, when the campaign is started early and when high coverage of multiple age groups is achieved. Vaccination efforts should be supplemented by health education to improve sanitation, hygiene practices and food safety.
Globally, there are an estimated 1.4 million cases of hepatitis A every year.
The hepatitis A virus is transmitted through ingestion of contaminated food and water, or through direct contact with an infectious person.
Hepatitis A is associated with a lack of safe water and poor sanitation.
Epidemics can be explosive in growth and cause significant economic losses.
Improved sanitation and the hepatitis A vaccine are the most effective ways to combat the disease.
IHepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. The virus is primarily spread when an uninfected (and unvaccinated) person ingests food or water that is contaminated with the faeces of an infected person. The disease is closely associated with a lack of safe water, inadequate sanitation and poor personal hygiene.
Unlike hepatitis B and C, hepatitis A infection does not cause chronic liver disease and is rarely fatal, but it can cause debilitating symptoms and fulminant hepatitis (acute liver failure), which is associated with high mortality.
Hepatitis A occurs sporadically and in epidemics worldwide, with a tendency for cyclic recurrences. Every year there are an estimated 1.4 million cases of hepatitis A worldwide.
The hepatitis A virus is one of the most frequent causes of foodborne infection. Epidemics related to contaminated food or water can erupt explosively, such as the epidemic in Shanghai in 1988 that affected about 300 000 people. Hepatitis A viruses persist in the environment and can resist food-production processes routinely used to inactivate and/or control bacterial pathogens.
The disease can lead to significant economic and social consequences in communities. It can take weeks or months for people recovering from the illness to return to work, school or daily life. The impact on food establishments identified with the virus, and local productivity in general, can be substantial.
Geographical distribution
Geographical distribution areas can be characterized as having high, intermediate or low levels of hepatitis A infection.
Areas with high levels of infection
In developing countries with very poor sanitary conditions and hygienic practices, most children (90%) have been infected with the hepatitis A virus before the age of 10. Those infected in childhood do not experience any noticeable symptoms. Epidemics are uncommon because older children and adults are generally immune. Symptomatic diseases rates in these areas are low and outbreaks are rare.
Areas with intermediate levels of infection
In developing countries, countries with transitional economies and regions where sanitary conditions are variable, children often escape infection in early childhood. Ironically, these improved economic and sanitary conditions may lead to a higher susceptibility in older age groups and higher disease rates, as infections occur in adolescents and adults, and large outbreaks can occur.
Areas with low levels of infection
In developed countries with good sanitary and hygienic conditions, infection rates are low. Disease may occur among adolescents and adults in high-risk groups, such as injecting-drug users, men who have sex with men, people travelling to areas of high endemicity, and in isolated populations such as closed religious communities.
Transmission
The hepatitis A virus is transmitted primarily by the faecal-oral route. This is when an uninfected person ingests food or water that has been contaminated with the faeces of an infected person. Waterborne outbreaks, though infrequent, are usually associated with sewage-contaminated or inadequately treated water.
The virus can also be transmitted through close physical contact with an infectious person, although casual contact among people does not spread the virus.
Symptoms
The incubation period of hepatitis A is usually 14–28 days.
Symptoms of hepatitis A range from mild to severe, and can include fever, malaise, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal discomfort, dark-coloured urine and jaundice (a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes). Not everyone who is infected will have all of the symptoms.
Adults have signs and symptoms of illness more often than children, and the severity of disease and mortality increases in older age groups. Infected children under six years of age do not usually experience noticeable symptoms, and only 10% develop jaundice. Among older children and adults, infection usually causes more severe symptoms, with jaundice occurring in more than 70% of cases.
Who is at risk?
Anyone who has not been vaccinated or previously infected can contract hepatitis A. In areas where the virus is widespread (high endemicity), most hepatitis A infections occur during early childhood. Risk factors include:
poor sanitation
lack of safe water
injecting drugs
living in a household with an infected person
being a sexual partner of someone with acute hepatitis A infection
travelling to areas of high endemicity without being immunized.
Treatment
There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A. Recovery from symptoms following infection may be slow and may take several weeks or months. Therapy is aimed at maintaining comfort and adequate nutritional balance, including replacement of fluids that are lost from vomiting and diarrhoea.
Prevention
Improved sanitation, food safety and immunization are the most effective ways to combat hepatitis A.
The spread of hepatitis A can be reduced by:
adequate supplies of safe drinking water
proper disposal of sewage within communities
personal hygiene practices such as regular hand-washing with safe water.
Several hepatitis A vaccines are available internationally. All are similar in terms of how well they protect people from the virus and their side-effects. No vaccine is licensed for children younger than one year of age.
Nearly 100% of people develop protective levels of antibodies to the virus within one month after a single dose of the vaccine. Even after exposure to the virus, a single dose of the vaccine within two weeks of contact with the virus has protective effects. Still, manufacturers recommend two vaccine doses to ensure a longer-term protection of about five to eight years after vaccination.
Millions of people have been immunized worldwide with no serious adverse events. The vaccine can be given as part of regular childhood immunizations programmes and also with other vaccines for travellers.
Immunization efforts
Vaccination against hepatitis A should be part of a comprehensive plan for the prevention and control of viral hepatitis. Planning for large-scale immunization programmes should involve careful economic evaluations and consider alternative or additional prevention methods, such as improved sanitation, and health education for improved hygiene practices.
Whether or not to include the vaccine in routine childhood immunizations depends on the local context, including the proportion of susceptible people in the population and the level of exposure to the virus. Several countries, including Argentina, China, Israel and the United States of America have introduced the vaccine in routine childhood immunizations.
While the two-dose regimen of inactivated hepatitis A vaccine is used in many countries, other countries may consider inclusion of a single-dose inactivated hepatitis A vaccine in their immunization schedules. Some countries also recommend the vaccine for people at increased risk of hepatitis A, including:
travellers to countries where the virus is endemic;
men who have sex with men;
people with chronic liver disease (because of their increased risk of serious complications if they acquire hepatitis A infection).
Regarding immunization for outbreak response, recommendations for hepatitis A vaccination should also be site-specific, including the feasibility of rapidly implementing a widespread immunization campaign.
Vaccination to control community-wide outbreaks is most successful in small communities, when the campaign is started early and when high coverage of multiple age groups is achieved. Vaccination efforts should be supplemented by health education to improve sanitation, hygiene practices and food safety.
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