WHAT IS HEPATITIS A?
Hepatitis A is inflammation of the liver due to a virus called the hepatitis A virus (HAV). Prior to its identification in 1973, it was known as infectious hepatitis, due to the fact that HAV is so contagious. HAV only causes acute hepatitis. This means that within six months time, the inflammation in the liver due to the hepatitis A virus totally subsides and all of the symptoms, signs and LFT abnormalities resolve. The liver repairs any short-trerm damage it may have suffered. No permanent damage is done and no long-term consequences are suffered.
In the United States, HAV is the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis. Each year, approximately 134,000 people in the United States are infected with HAV. In fact, around 33 percent of all people in the United States have, at some point, been infected with HAV, and approximately 47 percent of adults over fifty years old have evidence of exposure to this virus. Almost 100 percent of people who live in communities in the United States with substandard water and sewage sanitation systems, in addition to people living in economically developing countries such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America, have been infected during childhood.
HAV is usually thought of as the least serious of all the hepatitis viruses. This is due to the fact that—unlike the hepatitis B and C viruses—HAV does not cause chronic liver disease, and therefore the disease lasts no longer than six months. Cirrhosis and its complications can never result. Moreover, hepatitis A will not result in liver cancer. However, each year, hepatitis A causes a substantial number of people to get very ill. Some of these people require hospitalization. Many others, although not needing hospitalization, lose a significant amount of time from their jobs.
Though it is typically not fatal, hepatitis A accounts for approximately 100 deaths each year in the United States. Although the incidence of hepatitis A declines with advancing age, people greater than 50 years old are at a 5- 10 times greater risk of having a fatal outcome due to hepatitis A compared with all ages combined. Furthermore, it has been shown that when a person with another liver disease, such as chronic hepatitis C or B, becomes infected with HAV, she may experience a particularly serious and potentially life-threatening form of hepatitis. This is especially applicable to people over over 50 years of age. Fortunately, hepatitis A is vaccine-preventable. In fact, it is interesting to note that hepatitis A is the most common vaccine-preventable disease in the entire world. See Chapter 24 of my book for information on prevention and vaccination.All contents of this article are Copyright © 1994-2012 Melissa Palmer, MD
Melissa Palmer, MD is the author of " Dr. Melissa Palmer's Guide of Hepatitis and Liver Disease". (Published 2004. Penguin Putnam).
Dr. Palmer is an internationally renowned hepatologist who has been practicing medicine since 1985. Prior to 2012, she maintained perhaps the largest medical practice devoted to liver disease in the United States. Dr. Palmer is Clinical Professor of Medicine at New York University Medical Center. Dr. Palmer graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. and was trained in hepatology (as well as medical school) at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
Dr. Palmer is Board Certified in Gastroenterology and in Internal Medicine.
She has authored numerous scientific publications in the field of hepatology in such peer-reviewed journals as Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Seminars of Liver Disease, Transplantation and Archives of Internal Medicine.
She is frequently called upon by the media for her opinion on various topics related to liver disease. Dr. Palmer has appeared many times on television as a liver disease expert and has been quoted in such publications as TIME magazine, Cosmopolitan magazine, Prevention magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Newsday. She also has appeared in numerous videos and CD-Roms aimed at educating doctors and the public about hepatitis C and other liver diseases, such as primary biliary cirrhosis. Dr. Palmer lectures to the medical and general public on liver disease-related topics on a regular basis.
Dr. Palmer has performed numerous clinical trials on various experimental medications for the treatment of hepatitis.
Dr. Palmer is currently available for lecturing, investor and hedge-fund consultations, consultations to industry, and media interviews and appearances-- including television. For such matters, she can be contacted through hepatitismedia@gmail.com.
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