Hepatitis A - A Medical Condition

The hepatitis A is responsible for the cause of Hepatitis A. Hepatitis A affects the liver but it doesn’t cause any permanent damage to the liver. Hepatitis A results in the inflammation and swollen of the lever. The hepatitis A can be caused due to microorganism or due to damaged liver as a result of alcohol. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that approximately 200,000 peoples get infected every year with the Hepatitis A in the United States alone. And, approximately 100 people die due to this disease.   

Transmission
The Hepatitis A can be transmitted through numbers of ways like:

• Getting in contact with the stool of an infected person
• By eating food made by an infected person
• By having sex with the infected person 
• By caring the infected person
• Eating food washed in germinated water or drinking untreated water

Hepatitis A is not transmitted through:

• Hugging an infected person
• By talking or sitting near an infected person
• Through the sneeze or cough of an infected person

Symptoms

• Loss of appetite, fatigue, vomits and fever are common symptoms of all types of viral hepatitis. The Hepatitis A consumes average of 28 days as an incubation period and according to the CDC approximately 10 percent of patients experiences the symptoms relapse around six months after the illness. The symptoms of Hepatitis A may develop for about 15 to 50 days. Some of the general symptoms are:
• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Loss of appetite
• Low-grade fever
• Ill-health feel
• Jaundice
• Dark-colored urine
• Abdominal discomfort 

Children may experience diarrhea otherwise no other symptoms of Hepatitis A are developed in the children below 6 years of age.

Testing or Diagnosis of the Hepatitis A

• Three blood tests are available for detecting the HAV antibodies. It is possible to detect these antibodies up to six months after the onset of symptoms. Mostly after this time-period these HAV antibodies get disappeared. It would be wise get all your tests done from a registered and reputable clinic otherwise they would be of no use.  

Treatment

• No special treatment is recommended for the Hepatitis A as mostly it gets better in few days without any treatment. The protection of the liver is the main factor so alcohol drinking should be avoided to repair the liver. Rest for few days is essential to avoid intimate contact with other persons. A high-protein, low-fat diet is recommended by the doctors along with strong painkillers like narcotics. Once recovery from Hepatitis A makes the patient immune and so the patient will never be infected by it in future.

Vaccination

• Hepatitis A can be prevented with the help of Vaccination. The inactive hepatitis A virus particles are used for making the hepatitis A vaccine. These vaccines have shown effective results to prevent the infection of the Hepatitis A. The vaccination for hepatitis A is given in two shots. At least a gap of six months is given between the two shots. Both the shots are essential to ensure full protection from the hepatitis A.

Latest development

Recently the American Liver Foundation and Merck have joined hands to conduct general health campaign to arouse the awareness about the hepatitis A.