The hepatitis A virus is usually spread through water and food (particularly raw shellfish) that is contaminated with human waste. If you hear about people getting hepatitis from a visit to a restaurant or cafeteria, or after a picnic, it is probably hepatitis A.

If you get hepatitis A, you may feel like you have the flu. You may notice a yellowish color (called jaundice) in your skin or in the whites of your eyes. You may feel sick or tired for a month or so, but hepatitis A never leads to chronic liver disease. In rare cases, a person may get so sick from hepatitis A that he or she may die.

There is a vaccine to prevent hepatitis A. People with a chronic liver disease should receive the vaccine to be protected from hepatitis A, unless they are already immune (determined by blood tests). Immunity means that a person already has been exposed to the virus, and their immune system will protect them from getting it again.

It is important that people with chronic liver disease who are not immune to hepatitis A receive the vaccine to protect themselves from it, since they can get quite sick if they contract the infection.

For much more information, please visit our Hepatitis A Center.