What is hepatitis A?
Hepatitis A is a result of infection with the hepatitis A virus. Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease that can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a severe illness causing liver failure. Most people infected with the virus get well within 6 months. However, hepatitis A can be serious for older people and people who already have liver disease such as hepatitis B or C.
How is hepatitis A spread?
The hepatitis A virus is usually spread by putting something in your mouth that is contaminated with the virus. The virus is found in the stool of people with hepatitis A and is spread when someone's stool accidentally contaminates food or water. This can happen when an infected person does not adequately wash their hands after using the bathroom then touches other things such as food. When other people eat that food, they can get infected with hepatitis A. Usually the transmission is between people in very close personal contact.
Foods themselves can be contaminated with hepatitis A virus, such as raw oysters harvested from sewage-contaminated water. When people eat food contaminated with hepatitis A virus, they can get infected with the virus.
Hepatitis A is usually spread through:
- household contact with an infected person
- sexual contact with an infected person
- eating or drinking contaminated food or water
- sharing eating utensils that are contaminated
- touching contaminated surfaces and then placing your hands near or in the mouth
Symptoms may include the following:
- Yellowing of the skin or eyes (called jaundice)
- Feeling very tired
- Stomach pain
- Not feeling very hungry
- Dark urine
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Low-grade fever
What are possible treatments?
There are no special treatments for hepatitis A. Most people with hepatitis A recover without treatment within a few months by getting a lot of rest and drinking plenty of fluids.
References:
Viral Hepatitis and Liver Disease, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs -- https://www.hepatitis.va.gov/hav/index.asp
Interpret Your Lab Results
Upload your lab report, and we'll interpret and provide you with recommendations today.
Get StartedOur specialized data entry service is designed to seamlessly integrate your laboratory results into your private dashboard. Just send in your lab test results—whether it's an image or a file—and our skilled data entry team will handle the rest. We accommodate various file formats like PDFs, JPGs, and Excel.
The first report is complimentary. After that, the data entry service is priced at $15 per report, unless it's part of your subscribed plan. It's an ideal solution whether you have numerous reports to upload or if your schedule doesn't permit self-data entry.
We strive to make the data entry process easy for you. Whether by offering dozens of templates to choose from that pre-populate the most popular laboratory panels or by giving you instant feedback on the entered values. Our data entry forms are an easy, fast, and convenient way to enter the reports yourself. There is no limit on how many lab reports you can upload.
Personal plans
track personal results
Professional Plan
track multiple client's results
$15/month
$250/once
own it for life
$45/month
for health professionals
Personal Account
$15/month
for personal lab results
$250/once
own it for life
Level up your lab report analysis with our Pro plan, built for health practitioners like you.
Health Business Account
$45/month
Unlock additional Pro plans when you sign up.
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.
Anaplasma phagocytophIlum Antibodies IFA Titre (IgG), Beta-2 Microglobulin, Serum, Brucella spp by Agglutination, Flavivirus IgG EIA, HBsAg Screen, HCV Antibody RFX to Quant PCR, HCV RNA, Quantitative Real Time PCR, Hep A Ab, IgM, Hep A Ab, Total, Hep B Core Ab, IgM, Hep B Core Ab, Tot, Hep B Surface Ab, Qual, Hep C Virus Ab, Hepatitis A Virus Antibody, Hepatitis B Core Antibody (Total), Hepatitis B Surf Ab Quant, Hepatitis B Surface Antibody, Hepatitis B Surface Antibody, Qualitative, Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg Screen), Hepatitis C Virus Antibody, HIV Ab/p24 Ag with Reflex, HIV-1/HIV-2 Antibodies -EIA, HSV Type 1-Specific Ab, IgG, HSV-2 Ab, IgG, Murine typhus IgG by IFA, Q Fever P1 IgG FA, Q Fever P1 IgM FA, Q Fever P2 IgG FA, Q Fever P2 IgM FA, Rapid plasma reagin (RPR), RMSF IgG by IFA, RPR (DX) W/Refl Titer and Confirmatory Non-Reactive Testing, RPR, Rfx Qn RPR/Confirm TP, Syphilis Scrn w/rflx RPR and Titer, or TPPA, Treponema Palladium Total Antibodies (FTA abs), VDRL, West Nile Virus AB (IgG), Serum, West Nile Virus IgM EIA