Hepatitis A Information
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Accession Number
A00374
Author
US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Hepatitis Branch
Source
CDC Fact Sheet
Release Date
August 1, 1996
Major Descriptors
Hepatitis A virus
High risk populations
Prevention
Transmission
Topic
Hepatitis
Text
Hepatitis A
CLINICAL FEATURES:
--> Jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, intermittent nausea, diarrhea.
ETIOLOGIC AGENT:
--> Hepatitis A virus INCIDENCE:
--> Estimated 125,00-200,000 total infections/yr in United States. --> 84,000-134,000 symptomatic infections/yr. --> 100 deaths due to fulminant hepatitis/yr.
SEQUELAE:
--> Prolonged or relapsing hepatitis (15%). --> No chronic infection.
PREVALENCE:
--> 33% of Americans have evidence of past infection (immunity).
COSTS:
--> Estimated $200 million (1991 dollars)/yr (medical and work loss).
TRANSMISSION:
--> Fecal-oral; food/waterborne outbreaks; bloodborne (rare).
RISK GROUPS:
--> Household/sexual contacts of infected persons. --> International travelers. --> Persons living in American Indian reservations, Alaska Native villages, and other regions with endemic hepatitis A. --> During outbreaks: day care center employees or attendees, homosexually active men, injecting drug users.
SURVEILLANCE:
--> National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System. --> Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Program. --> Sentinel Counties Studies.
TRENDS:
--> Large nationwide outbreaks every decade (last in 1989). --> Cases increasing slightly during past several years.
PREVENTION:
--> Hepatitis A vaccine is highly effective in preventing hepatitis A and provides the potential to have a substantial impact on the disease burden --> Immune globulin administered pre- and postexposure. --> Good hygiene and sanitation.
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