Hepatitis A Symptoms

Symptoms HAV

The presence of symptoms at people with HAV infection is closely related to age. In children aged less than 6 years, 70% of infections are asymptomatic; typically jaundice doesn't accompany the illness. The situation is completely different among children over 6 years and adults where the infection usually is symptomatic, with jaundice occurring in over 70% of patients. In most cases, signs and symptoms last less then 2 months, but there is a percentage of 10% - 15% of symptomatic persons which experience prolonged or relapsing disease for longer period of time, but not longer then 6 months. The statistics revealed that the case-fatality ratio is approximately 0.3% - 0.6%, but it increases among adults over 50 years reaching 1.8% and among persons with chronic liver disease who are at additional risk for acute liver failure.

The virus become inactive if it is exposed for one minute at temperatures higher than 85ºC/ 185ºF and if it is exposed to the action of formalin or chlorine, but is relatively stable at low Ph values and moderate temperatures. On convenient environmental conditions, HAV can live outside the body for months.

If someone was infected with hepatitis A in the past, he can't get it again and also he can't transmit the virus to others. Once the body recovers from hepatitis A, it develops antibodies which are capable of protecting the organism from any future infection with the same virus.

Hepatitis A Hepatitis A Symptoms Hepatitis A Transmission