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Disease information 

Virus or bacteria

Hepatitis A is caused by hepatitis A virus. This virus attacks the liver and causes inflammation.

How it spreads

• Food or water that is contaminated with the feces of an infected person.
• In restaurants via infected workers or from foods that are not properly cleaned.
• In situations where people are not able to practice good hygiene, which may cause exposure to the feces of infected people. One example is during periods of homelessness.

Hepatitis A infections and deaths occur throughout the U.S. every year, often after eating contaminated foods. This map highlights some of the larger outbreaks that occurred in the U.S. between 2012 and 2016. In 2023, 85 people in the U.S. died from hepatitis A infections.

Symptoms

• Fever
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Jaundice
• Dark-colored urine
• Abdominal pain
• Lack of appetite

NOTE: Younger children are less likely to develop these symptoms than older children and adults. In addition, many people do not experience symptoms of hepatitis A infection for up to two weeks after becoming infected. For these reasons, many people do not know they are infected. This leads to people unknowingly transmitting hepatitis A to others early during their infection.

Typical disease timeline

Hepatitis A typically lasts about 2 months.

Possible complications

• Severe, overwhelming infection with massive liver damage
• Hospitalization
• Death (Before the vaccine, every year in the U.S. about 70 people died from hepatitis A infections.)

Other things to know

• People who travel to countries with high rates of hepatitis A infection are at  increased risk of becoming sick with the disease.
• Five hepatitis viruses can cause liver disease in people. They are hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses.
• Hepatitis A and E are spread by food or water contaminated with an infected person's feces. Hepatitis E can also on rare occasions be spread from blood, but this type is not common in the U.S.
• Hepatitis B is commonly spread through exposure to an infected person's blood. This can occur from intravenous drug use, tattooing, sex with an infected person, or sharing washcloths, toothbrushes or razors that contain blood from an infected person. Hepatitis D is only found in people infected with hepatitis B.
• Hepatitis C is spread through blood and body fluids from a person infected with hepatitis C. This often occurs through sharing of needles, exposure to needles or sharp objects while working, or from an infected mother to her child during birth. Hepatitis C can be spread during sex, but this type of spread is not common.
• No vaccine is available for hepatitis C, D or E, but vaccines do exist to protect against hepatitis A and B infections.
• Hepatitis A only occurs in people.
• Outbreaks of hepatitis A have increased as an indirect result of the opioid crisis because drug use can lead to homelessness. The poor hygiene that results can increase the chance for hepatitis A to spread.

Vaccine information 

The hepatitis A vaccine is used to prevent hepatitis A. 

Vaccine type

• Killed viral vaccines

Vaccine side effects

Common

• Pain, redness and tenderness at the injection site (20 to 50 of 100 recipients)
• Headache (5 of 100 recipients)
• Mild fever (Fewer than 10 of 100 recipients)
• Feeling "out of sorts" (Fewer than 10 of 100 recipients)
• Fatigue (Fewer than 10 of 100 recipients)

Rare

• None

Very rare

• Serious allergic reaction (fewer than 1 of 1,000,000 recipients)

Reasons to get the hepatitis A vaccine

• It's difficult to know who's contagious.
• Eating at a restaurant can lead to hepatitis A infection.
• Hepatitis A infections can be long-lasting.
• Hepatitis A infections can cause death.
• The hepatitis A vaccine is safe.