The disease is closely associated with a lack of safe water, inadequate sanitation and poor personal hygiene. Unlike hepatitis B and C, hepatitis A infection does not cause chronic liver disease and is rarely fatal, but it can cause debilitating symptoms and fulminant hepatitis (acute liver failure), which is associated with high mortality. 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.
The hepatitis A virus is transmitted when an uninfected person ingests food or water that has been contaminated with the faeces of an infected person. Waterborne outbreaks, though infrequent, are usually associated with sewage-contaminated or inadequately treated water. The virus can also be transmitted through close physical contact with an infected person, although casual contact among people does not spread the virus. Symptoms of hepatitis A infection include fever, malaise, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal discomfort, dark-coloured urine and yellowing of the skin and whitening of the eyes.
According to World Health Organisation, anyone who has not been vaccinated or previously infected can contract hepatitis A. The risk factors include poor sanitation, lack of safe water, injecting drugs and living in a household with an infected person. There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A. Recovery from symptoms following infection may be slow and may take several weeks or months. Therapy is aimed at maintaining comfort and adequate nutritional balance, including replacement of fluids that are lost from vomiting and diarrhoea. The spread of hepatitis A can be reduced by provision of adequate supplies of safe drinking water, vaccination, proper disposal of sewage within communities and personal hygiene practices such as regular hand-washing with safe water.