Is hepatitis A considered liver disease?
Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus. The virus is one of several types of hepatitis viruses that cause inflammation and affect your liver’s ability to function.
How does hepatitis A affect your liver?
Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). HAV causes the liver to swell and prevents it from working well. HAV usually goes away on its own in almost all cases with no serious complications. However, HAV may cause some patients to suffer liver failure.
What causes viral hepatitis?
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. In the United States, viral hepatitis is usually caused by the hepatitis A, B, or C virus. Different types of hepatitis are spread different ways, including having sex, sharing needles, or eating unclean food.
What type of virus is hepatitis A?
Hepatitis A virus (HAV), classified as hepatovirus, is a small, unenveloped symmetrical RNA virus which shares many of the characteristics of the picornavirus family, and is the cause of infectious or epidemic hepatitis transmitted by the fecal-oral route.
Is Hepatitis a serious disease?
In rare cases, hepatitis A can cause liver failure and even death; this is more common in older people and in people with other serious health issues, such as chronic liver disease.
What are symptoms of viral hepatitis?
Symptoms of hepatitis can include: fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored stools, joint pain, and jaundice.
What does viral hepatitis feel like?
In most people, the inflammation begins suddenly and lasts only a few weeks. Symptoms range from none to very severe. Affected people may have a poor appetite, nausea, vomiting, fever, pain in the upper right part of the abdomen, and jaundice. Doctors do blood tests to diagnose hepatitis and identify its cause.
How do you get rid of viral hepatitis?
About 25 percent of people with chronic hepatitis B can be cured with a drug called pegylated interferon-alpha, which is taken as a weekly injection for six months. The alternative is suppression of the virus with oral medications, such as lamivudine and adefovir.
