Center for Disease Control
Hepatitis A Fact Sheet |
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Clinical
Features
- Jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, intermittent
nausea, diarrhea
Etiologic
Agent
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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