8 Important Facts About Hepatitis A; Symptoms, Treatment And More

Hepatitis A is an infectious disease of the liver that can cause severe complications, including acute liver failure and death, in extreme cases. It is one of five known hepatitis viruses, and around 1.4 million cases are diagnosed in the world each year. Symptoms of hepatitis A usually appear two to six weeks after the disease has been contracted. Here are eight important facts about hepatitis A everybody should know.

Symptoms Of Hepatitis A

Many of the early symptoms of hepatitis A are easily mistaken for the symptoms of influenza or food poisoning. Common symptoms include bile in the urine, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, jaundice, loss of appetite, and abdominal discomfort. On average, adults begin experiencing these symptoms approximately twenty-eight days after being infected with the disease. Only a small percentage of adults do not show any signs at all. In comparison, ninety percent of children who have hepatitis A do not show symptoms of the disease, making it easy for children who seem healthy to transmit the virus to other individuals. Approximately ten to fifteen percent of those infected with hepatitis A experience a recurrence of symptoms for six months after the initial infection. These symptoms also contribute to the spread of the disease.

How Hepatitis A Is Spread

There are several ways in which hepatitis A can be spread from one person to another. Close contact with an infected individual, such as sexual intercourse or engaging in other intimate activities increases the risk of contracting the disease considerably. Infections are also common in regions of the world with high poverty rates and poor hygiene. As a result, many children in developing countries contract the disease early on in life. In addition, overcrowding is a significant factor in the spread of the disease; overpopulated areas report higher annual rates of infection than less populated areas do. Shellfish that has not been cooked properly or that has come from polluted water is another common catalyst for the disease. Humans are the only natural reservoirs or long-term hosts of the hepatitis A virus; it is not carried or spread by any other animal.