Hepatitis A – How You Get it and What it Does to Your Body

Definition of Hepatitis

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver, which is caused by viruses, medications and toxic agents. Currently, at least five (5) forms of viral hepatitis are recognized which in this article we will learn about Hepatitis A, how it spreads and how to prevent infection.

How hepatitis spreads

Hepatitis A (HAV) is spread primarily by oral contact with feces of an infected person (oral-fecal contact), including contaminated food or water sources, and any sexual contact, especially oral-anal sex.

Hepatitis A easily spreads among young children in kindergartens and day cares as many cannot wash their own hands and are in diapers and since children normally have no symptoms, no one may know that they might be infected.

On rare occasions hepatitis A has been spread through blood transfusion, using blood products or sharing personal tools and equipments specially sharing needles or other injecting equipment which is contaminated with hepatitis A infected blood.

Transmission by blood rarely happens because the virus cannot stay present for long. As it enters the blood onset of infection occurs. Read more