Category FAQs Search : Health
Question: What is Hepatitis A?
Answer: Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). The virus is primarily spread when an uninfected (and unvaccinated) person ingests food or water that is contaminated with the faeces of an infected person. The disease is closely associated with unsafe water or food, inadequate sanitation, poor personal hygiene and oral-anal sex.
Unlike hepatitis B and C, hepatitis A does not cause chronic liver disease and is rarely fatal, but it can cause debilitating symptoms and fulminant hepatitis (acute liver failure), which is often fatal. Overall, WHO estimated that in 2016, 7 134 persons died from hepatitis A worldwide (accounting for 0.5% of the mortality due to viral hepatitis).
Hepatitis A occurs sporadically and in epidemics worldwide, with a tendency for cyclic recurrences. The hepatitis A virus is one of the most frequent causes of foodborne infection. Epidemics related to contaminated food or water can erupt explosively, such as the epidemic in Shanghai in 1988 that affected about 300 000 people1. They can be also prolonged, affecting communities for months through person-to-person transmission. Hepatitis A viruses persist in the environment and can withstand food-production processes routinely used to inactivate and/or control bacterial pathogens.
The disease can lead to significant economic and social consequences in communities. It can take weeks or months for people recovering from the illness to return to work, school, or daily life. The impact on food establishments identified with the virus, and local productivity in general, can be substantial.
(Source: World Health Organization (WHO), 20 Feb 2020)
Source Link: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-a