Home » Hepatitis A virus (HAV) Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a faecal-oral pathogen and its transmission is mainly associated with faecally infected water and food. Shellfish is especially notorious for it acts as a vehicle for the spread of Hepatitis A virus (HAV). In a recent outbreak of epidemic in Shanghai following a clam festival, more than 500,000 cases were registered. Infection is largely common in conditions of hopeless sanitation and congestion. Institutions imparting education to the mentally handicapped are mainly vulnerable. Some of the food borne outbreaks can be traced to bad hygiene in contaminated food handlers who were shedding huge amounts of virus during the process of incubation.

The origin of the outbreak can easily be traced to raw food or food which was handled after cooking.
Of late, young adults in the United Kingdom of about 50% had evidence of previous infection, but as regards to other industrialized countries, the incidence is quickly decreasing so that Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is rapidly forming a disease of young adults, than children in these countries. HAV is frequently adopted from travelers from regions where Hepatitis A virus infection is of a less prevalent to an area where the disease is hyper endemic.

The incubation period is about 3 to 5 weeks, with an average of 28 days. All age groups are prone to Hepatitis A virus (HAV). In regions where HAV is hyper endemic, hepatitis A is an infection during childhood where the infection is mainly sub clinical or mild. In countries which are developed, the overall incidence is falling rapidly. The infection has now become more common and seen in adults where the disease is generally more serious. Children, who are infected very often, are having no symptoms. Out of four adults, three are infected with Hepatitis A virus (HAV) do experience some symptoms. The symptoms found in those adults, do develop abruptly, may at times include profound fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, vomiting and nausea, and fever. In this case urine may become darker in color, and jaundice which is the yellowing of the whites of the eyes and skin may appear.

Symptoms of Hepatitis A virus (HAV) mainly last for less than 2 months. Some persons are found to be ill for more that 6 months with this infection. A person is capable of spreading hepatitis A at about one week before the appearance of the symptoms and in the first week of symptoms. Persons having no symptoms may be able to spread the virus. HAV is seldom fatal. There is no long-lived infection with hepatitis A. Recovering well from this disease acquires lifelong immunity from further hepatitis A infections in the future. Thus, after recovering from it, one will never get the disease again.

Actually, there are no special antibiotics or medicines that can be utilized to cure Hepatitis A virus (HAV). Once the symptoms of HAV appear, proper bed rest should be required. The single most essential way to check the spread of the hepatitis A virus is the proper washing o hand after diapering children, after using the toilet and before handling food.