Health Topic

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A virus can infect people who accidentally ingest fecal matter in contaminated food or water or through personal contact. More on HAV here.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Also called: HAV

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Hepatitis A

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. Inflammation is swelling that happens when tissues of the body are injured or infected. It can damage your liver. This swelling and damage can affect how well your liver functions.

Hepatitis A is a type of viral hepatitis. It causes an acute, or short-term, infection. This means that people usually get better without treatment after a few weeks.

Thanks to a vaccine, hepatitis A is not very common in the United States.

Hepatitis A is caused by the hepatitis A virus. The virus spreads through contact with an infected person's stool. This can happen if you:

  • Eat food made by someone who has the virus and did not properly wash their hands after using the bathroom
  • Drink contaminated water or eat foods that were rinsed with contaminated water
  • Have close personal contact with someone who has hepatitis A. This could be through certain types of sex (like oral-anal sex), taking care of someone who is ill, or using illegal drugs with others.

Although anyone can get hepatitis A, you are at higher risk if you:

  • Travel to developing countries
  • Have sex with someone who has hepatitis A
  • Are a man who has sex with men
  • Use illegal drugs
  • Are experiencing homelessness
  • Live with or care for someone who has hepatitis A
  • Live with or care for a child recently adopted from a country where hepatitis A is common

Not everyone with hepatitis A has symptoms. Adults are more likely to have symptoms than children. If you do have symptoms, they usually start 2 to 7 weeks after infection. They can include:

  • Dark yellow urine
  • Diarrhea
  • Fatigue
  • Fever
  • Gray- or clay-colored stools
  • Joint pain
  • Loss of appetite
  • Nausea and/or vomiting
  • Abdominal pain
  • Yellowish eyes and skin, called jaundice

The symptoms usually last less than 2 months, although some people can be ill for as long as 6 months.

You are at a higher risk of getting a more severe infection from hepatitis A if you also have HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C.

In rare cases, hepatitis A may lead to liver failure. This is more common in adults over age 50 and in people who have another liver.

To diagnose hepatitis A, your health care provider may use many tools:

  • A medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms
  • A physical exam
  • Blood tests, including tests for viral hepatitis

There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A. The best way to recover is to rest, drink plenty of liquids, and eat healthy foods. Your provider may also suggest medicines to help relieve symptoms. In more severe cases, you may need care in a hospital.

The best way to prevent hepatitis A is to get the hepatitis A vaccine. It is also important to have good hygiene, especially washing your hands thoroughly after you go to the bathroom.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

It sits within Digestive System and Infections.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Hepatitis A

4,983 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

Start Here

  • Hepatitis AAmerican Academy of Family Physicians
  • Hepatitis AMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
  • Hepatitis ANational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Diagnosis and Tests

Prevention and Risk Factors

Related Issues

Statistics and Research

Clinical Trials

Patient Handouts

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Hepatitis A. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Hepatitis A, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.