About Hepatitis A - A Foodborne Illness
The Hepatitis A Blog supplements Marler Clark's Web site www.about-hepatitis.com, a site that provides information about hepatitis A, the symptoms and risks of infection, hepatitis A testing/detection, and how to prevent the spread of the hepatitis A virus.
While about-hepatitis.com is informational in purpose, the hepatitis A blog is intended to be a forum for discussion among the site's authors and users. The authors of the hepatitis A blog conduct surveillance on matters related to hepatitis A's impact on individuals and families in different cities, states, and regions.
Please join us in a conversation about hepatitis A that includes subjects such as outbreaks, recalls, and legal cases by commenting on posts that you find interesting
About hepatitis A (HAV)
Hepatitis A is the only common vaccine-preventable foodborne disease in the United States (Fiore, 2004). It is one of five human hepatitis viruses that primarily infect the human liver and cause human illness. Unlike hepatitis B and C, hepatitis A doesn’t develop into chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis, which are both potentially fatal conditions; however, infection with the hepatitis A virus (HAV) can still lead to acute liver failure and death.
Hepatitis A is much more common in countries with underdeveloped sanitation systems. This includes most of the world: an increased transmission rate is seen in all countries other than the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the countries of Western Europe. Nevertheless, it continues to occur in the United States; approximately one-third of the population has been previously infected with HAV (Fiore, 2004; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2009a). Each year, approximately 30,000 to 50,000 cases of hepatitis A occur in the United States. Although the national incidence (1.0 case per 100,000 population) of hepatitis A was the lowest ever recorded in 2007, it is estimated that 25,000 new infections occurred that year after asymptomatic infection and underreporting were taken into account.
In 2007, a total of 2,979 acute symptomatic cases of hepatitis A were reported (CDC, 2009b). Among the 1,047 cases with available information regarding foodborne or waterborne exposure, 6.5% were found to be foodborne or waterborne related, about one-third the proportion reported at the last peak in 2003. However, 2500 cases remained without known risk factors.
Estimates of the annual direct and indirect costs of hepatitis A in the United States have ranged from $300 million to $488.8 million in 1997 dollars (CDC, 2007). Nationwide, adults who become ill miss an average of 27 work days per illness and 11 to 22 percent of those infected are hospitalized (CDC, 2009c). These are avoidable illnesses, since 21st Century medicine and the advent of hepatitis A vaccine have rendered hepatitis A infections totally preventable.
How is Hepatitis A Infection Transmitted?