1. Hepatitis Slideshow Pictures
2. Digestive Disease Myths Slideshow Pictures
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Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

Mary Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Medical School, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Indiana University.

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The hepatitis A virus is found predominantly in the stools (feces) of people with hepatitis A. HAV is transmitted when a person puts something in his or her mouth that has been contaminated with the feces of an affected person. This is referred to as fecal-oral transmission. However, variations of this primary way in which a contagious person transmits the disease are as follows:

• Food or drinking water contaminated with stool from an infected person (usually because of inadequate hand washing or poor sanitary conditions), the virus can quickly spread to anyone who drinks or swallows the contaminated food or water.
• Eating raw or undercooked shellfish collected from water that has been contaminated by sewage
• Blood transfusions, although this is extremely rare
• Sexual contact, especially oral/anal

People who are infected can start spreading the infection (shedding virus) about 1 week after their own exposure. People who do not have symptoms can still spread the virus. Infection with HAV is known to occur throughout the world.

• The risk of infection is greatest in developing countries with poor sanitation or poor personal hygiene standards.
• Infection rates are also higher in areas where direct fecal-oral transmission is likely to occur, such as daycare centers, prisons, and mental institutions.

People at increased risk for hepatitis A infection include:

• Household contacts of people infected with HAV
• Sexual partners of people infected with HAV
• International travelers, especially to developing countries
• Military personnel stationed abroad, especially in developing countries
• Men who have sex with other men
• People who use illegal drugs (injected or non-injected)
• People who may come into close contact with HAV infected people at work

Individuals who work in professions such as health care, food preparation, and sewage and waste water management are not at greater risk of infection than the general public.

People who live or work in close quarters, such as dormitories, prisons, and residential facilities; or work in or attend daycare facilities are at increased risk only if strict personal hygiene measures are not observed.

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