{"id":4269,"date":"2021-07-26T13:25:23","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T13:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/?p=4269"},"modified":"2021-07-26T13:33:08","modified_gmt":"2021-07-26T13:33:08","slug":"what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Hepatitis A and What causes hepatitis A?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hepatitis A is a liver-associated disease that is one of the contagious types of disease in hepatitis caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). As we already know the word &#8220;hepatitis&#8221; means inflammation related to liver\/ disease related to the Liver. Scientists suggest that HAV was discovered almost 2000 years ago when it has affected almost the whole world, especially the continent of Asia and Africa. One of the most important things to notice is that in the modern world the spread of hepatitis A is less due to improving sanitary conditions and sewerage systems. Secondly, improvement in vaccination also helped the human being to prevent hepatitis A.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_69_1 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1e73be;color:#1e73be\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1e73be;color:#1e73be\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#Structure_of_Hepatitis_A_virus\" title=\"Structure of Hepatitis A virus :\">Structure of Hepatitis A virus :<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#How_is_hepatitis_A_transmitted\" title=\"How is hepatitis A transmitted?\">How is hepatitis A transmitted?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#Symptoms_of_hepatitis_A\" title=\"Symptoms of hepatitis A:\">Symptoms of hepatitis A:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#Laboratory_diagnosis\" title=\"Laboratory diagnosis:\">Laboratory diagnosis:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#Hepatitis_A_treatment\" title=\"Hepatitis A treatment:\">Hepatitis A treatment:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#Hepatitis_A_prevention\" title=\"Hepatitis A prevention:\">Hepatitis A prevention:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#Risk_factors_for_hepatitis_A\" title=\"Risk factors for hepatitis A:\">Risk factors for hepatitis A:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#FAQs\" title=\"FAQs\">FAQs<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#What_is_hepatitis_A\" title=\"What is hepatitis A?\">What is hepatitis A?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#What_causes_hepatitis_A\" title=\"What causes hepatitis A?\">What causes hepatitis A?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#How_do_you_get_hepatitis_A\" title=\"How do you get hepatitis A?\">How do you get hepatitis A?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#Conclusion_and_Doctors_Recommendation\" title=\"Conclusion and Doctors Recommendation:\">Conclusion and Doctors Recommendation:<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Structure_of_Hepatitis_A_virus\"><\/span>Structure of Hepatitis A virus :<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hepatitis A has a very simple structure and it is why it can be controlled easily. Hepatitis structure has:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Non-envelope covering.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Single-stranded + RNA.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No polymerase.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Single serotype.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Family: Picornavirus.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Baltimore classification: IV<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have a brief viremic period.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_is_hepatitis_A_transmitted\"><\/span>How is hepatitis A transmitted?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hepatitis A is caused by the hepatitis A virus which structure is important for its spread. It is a non-enveloped virus. This virus spread and infects the human body by the fecal-oral route. The fecal oral route means that this virus spread through contaminated food and contaminated water through the mouth and anus. The contamination of water and food can happen due to the breakage of sewerage lines and poor sanitation procedures. Sometimes, Hepatitis A is also transmitted when you have sexual contact with a person having a virus. Some people also think that this virus also spreads with close contact like shaking hands and also in living in the same room. So, relax it doesn\u2019t spread through sneezing, coughing and, shaking hands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hepatitis A has a brief viremic period. It means that this virus causes its infection very brief time. It travels from stomach to liver and causes infection in the liver. When the viral copies start to form in the liver then the actual symptoms appear.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Symptoms_of_hepatitis_A\"><\/span>Symptoms of hepatitis A:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the entry of the virus into the stomach, the virus replicates in the GI tract and then spreads to the liver during a brief viremic period. The virus is not cytopathic for the hepatocyte. Hepatocellular injury is caused by an immune attack by cytotoxic T cells. This is just the pathogenesis of the Hepatitis A virus. The symptoms include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abdominal pain.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fatigue.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frequent nausea and vomiting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jaundice (one of the major symptoms).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dark-colored eyes and urine.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dark-colored bowel.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Severe pain in jaundice.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Loss of appetite due to the increase in viral load.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sign and symptoms of hepatitis A are severe in adults and at the age of more than 30 but in children, these symptoms are less common. That is why hepatitis A is less common in children than adults and according to a study, 70% of adults are affected by hepatitis A disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Laboratory_diagnosis\"><\/span>Laboratory diagnosis:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All of the hepatitis viruses are been detected almost the same way, yet For HAV we use special types of KITS in which we check the antibodies specially IGM which is the primary antibody. These are detected through immunochromatographic technique in which antigen is coated on kits while we check the cross-reactivity by the presence of antibodies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes the presence of the hepatitis A virus is done through Reverse transcriptase PCR (RT PCR) in which we detect the Nucleic acid of the virus which is RNA. But you have to care too much while handling this virus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>There is no other test recommended by Experts to detect HAV in blood.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hepatitis_A_treatment\"><\/span>Hepatitis A treatment:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Specific treatment against Hepatitis A is not present yet; means there is no antiviral therapy against Hepatitis A. you have to just maintain the symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain, and more specifically Nausea and Vomiting from severity. Basically, hepatitis A always cures itself in 6 months with complete liver recovery but sometimes when chronic hepatitis A occurs, the liver becomes damage so the patient has to go for a liver transplant but it is rare as hepatitis A is less fatal than other Hepatitis Viruses.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hepatitis_A_prevention\"><\/span>Hepatitis A prevention:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is no antiviral drug therapy. Injectable hepatitis A vaccine is available for the prevention of the virus. These Vaccines include the virus that has been destroyed. Immune globulin can be given during the incubation phase to help prevent the disease. The vaccine is so efficient that even if the vaccine is administrated within two weeks of exposure can prevent you from hepatitis A. One of the most important things to read is people think that vaccines can be risky for hepatitis A but it is not true. Vaccine always contain killed pathogen so it is very much efficient against the prevention of hepatitis A<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other prevention is during the symptoms and may be advised by doctors as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One and foremost prevention is to avoid unnecessary medication such as brufen and panadol etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do not use alcohol and alcohol-based syrup as it may directly Act on the liver might cause serious discomfort.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration during severe vomiting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eat fresh fruit and vegetable and do not eat uncooked food.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep your lifestyle healthy as far as possible as it may not prevent you only from Hepatitis A, but might prevent you from other serious diseases.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Risk_factors_for_hepatitis_A\"><\/span>Risk factors for hepatitis A:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People may take it for granted that doctors always say that hepatitis A will recover itself but they do not listen that it has risk factors associated with it that also should be monitored. Such as people do normal routine work in Hepatitis A which is wrong to do so because your body needs complete rest while fighting with a virus. Moreover, people also eat every time thinking that eating will make them healthier but they don\u2019t know that eating also can cause other symptoms to follow up such as eating too much can cause abdominal cramps and pain. So you have to ask your nutritionist that what to eat and what time is better to eat.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQs\"><\/span>FAQs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_hepatitis_A\"><\/span>What is hepatitis A?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we already know the word hepatitis means disease related to the Liver. Hepatitis A is a liver-associated disease in which the human liver is infected and can cause serious symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting and nausea, and fever.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_causes_hepatitis_A\"><\/span>What causes hepatitis A?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hepatitis A is hepatocyte associated disease caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). It is a non-enveloped virus present in contaminated food and contaminated water and causes disease when this virus enters the body via the fecal-oral route.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_do_you_get_hepatitis_A\"><\/span>How do you get hepatitis A?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hepatitis A is transmitted, spread, and infects a human body by the fecal-oral route. The fecal oral route means that this virus spread through contaminated food and contaminated water through the mouth and anus. The contamination of water and food can is due to breakage of sewerage lines and poor sanitation.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion_and_Doctors_Recommendation\"><\/span>Conclusion and Doctors Recommendation:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hepatitis A was discovered almost 2000 years ago when people were unknown about the fact that there is a small creature that can affect your liver as well such as Virus. But as far as medical sciences grown-up people came to know about hepatitis is some disease that can affect you and your liver. HAV continues to infect millions of people every year around the world, causing temporary impairment but seldom liver failure with considerable medical costs. Improvements in socioeconomic and sanitary circumstances, on the other hand, are leading to a decrease in infection rates and herd immunity against HAV in many countries. <\/p>\n<p>Although HAV rates in the United States have decreased by 95% from 1996 to 2011, a paradoxical increase in HAV infections was noted by the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccines\/pubs\/pinkbook\/hepa.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1002\/cld.1018\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to CLD<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> During the last four decades, significant progress has been achieved in understanding the genomic organization, molecular epidemiology, diagnosis, and prevention of HAV infection.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hepatitis A is a liver-associated disease that is one of the contagious types of disease in hepatitis caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). As we already know the word &#8220;hepatitis&#8221; means inflammation related to liver\/ disease related to the &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"What is Hepatitis A and What causes hepatitis A?\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/what-is-hepatitis-a-and-what-causes-hepatitis-a\/#more-4269\">Continue Reading&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">What is Hepatitis A and What causes hepatitis A?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"two_page_speed":[]},"categories":[16,1],"tags":[685,684,687,686,665],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Hepatitis-A-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthycyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}