Hepatitis A

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis C

Cause

hepatitis A virus

(HAV)

hepatitis B virus

(HBV)

hepatitis C virus (HCV)

Transmission

• virus is excreted in the stool of infected persons
• lack of proper hand washing can pass the virus through food preparation or other hand to mouth contact
• hepatitis A can be caught by drinking contaminated water or by eating raw or under-cooked shellfish that have been exposed to sewage

• contact with blood, sexual fluids, saliva, or other bodily fluids containing visible blood of an infected individual
• infected bodily fluids must enter through a break in the skin or mucous membranes

• contact with blood of infected individuals
• blood transfusion(s) before 1992 and injection drug use are major risk factors
• the risk of spreading this virus to close contacts is very low

Incubation

• 15 - 50 days
• average 28 - 30 days

• 45 - 180 days
• average 60 - 90 days

• 2 weeks - 6 months
• average 6 - 9 weeks

Symptoms

• fever, nausea, abdominal pain
• yellow colour to skin/eyes
• children may not show symptoms

• nausea
• vomiting
• fatigue
• abdominal discomfort
• yellow colour to skin (sometimes)
• sometimes no symptoms

• majority of people do not have symptoms and may feel quite healthy
• some individuals will develop fatigue, jaundice, anorexia, abdominal discomfort, vomiting

Prevention

• hepatitis A vaccine (2 doses over 6 - 12 months)
• good personal hygiene
• thorough hand washing
• sanitary disposal of faeces and urine
• no food handling by infected persons
• avoid undercooked shellfish from unknown sources
• drink water from a safe source

• hepatitis B vaccine (3 doses over 6 months)
• use a latex barrier for sexual activity or practice abstinence
• standard precautions with respect to handling body fluids
• never share needles, razors, toothbrushes, nail clippers, tattooing or piercing equipment
• vaccination of household and sexual contacts

• standard precautions for handling blood and bloody bodily fluids
• avoid sexual intercourse during menstrual bleeding
• never share needles, razors, scissors, or toothbrushes

Treatment

• no specific treatment
• household contacts may receive immuneglobulin and/or vaccine
• rest

• rest
• medication to help manage symptoms
• interferon; anti-virals

• alpha interferon is medication that may interfere with the reproduction of the virus after it has invaded the body
• ribavirin is another antiviral drug usually used along with interferon
• long acting or pegylated form of interferon is most effective and results in a cure rate of about 50%

Prognosis

• most recover and have lifelong immunity
• no carrier state once acute infection is over

• 6 - 10% of infected people develop chronic disease and are life-long carriers
• may lead to cirrhosis of liver or hepatic cancer

• where inflammation in the liver continues longer than 6 months, the disease is considered "chronic", which occurs in 75-85% of cases