The Complications of Hepatitis A

Abstract

Acute hepatitis A infection is caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), a single stranded RNA hepatovirus of the picornaviridae family1. Transmission is oro-faecal, either person-to-person contact or via the consumption of contaminated food or water.1-3 Prevalence is higher in areas with poor sanitation or ablution facilities. Outbreaks have also been reported amongst men
who have sex with men or institutions with people in close contact sharing bathrooms.4,5 HAV infection is vaccine preventable but South Africa and most African countries do not have the vaccine in their expanded programs of immunization (EPI). Outbreaks occur worldwide with an estimated 1.4 million incident cases occurring annually6. These are sporadic and often cyclical, children <10 years often affected although the disease course is usually mild and self-limiting.