Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus. The virus is one of several types of hepatitis viruses that cause inflammation and affect your liver’s ability to function.

You’re most likely to get hepatitis A from contaminated food or water or from close contact with a person or object that’s infected. Mild cases of hepatitis A don’t require treatment. Most people who are infected recover completely with no permanent liver damage.

Symptoms

Hepatitis A signs and symptoms typically don’t appear until you’ve had the virus for a few weeks. But not everyone with hepatitis A develops them. If you do, hepatitis signs and symptoms can include:

• Fatigue
• Sudden nausea and vomiting
• Abdominal pain or discomfort, especially on the upper right side beneath your lower ribs (by your liver)
• Clay-colored bowel movements
• Loss of appetite
• Low-grade fever
• Dark urine
• Joint pain
• Yellowing of the skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)
• Intense itching

When to see a doctor

Make an appointment with your doctor if you have signs or symptoms of hepatitis A.

Getting a hepatitis A vaccine or an injection of immunoglobulin (an antibody) within two weeks of exposure to hepatitis A may protect you from infection. Ask your doctor or your local health department about receiving the hepatitis A vaccine if:

• You’ve traveled out of the country recently, particularly to Mexico or South or Central America, or to areas with poor sanitation
• A restaurant where you recently ate reports a hepatitis A outbreak
• Someone close to you, such as a roommate or caregiver, is diagnosed with hepatitis A
• You recently had sexual contact with someone who has hepatitis A

Risk factors

You’re at increased risk of hepatitis A if you:

• Travel or work in areas of the world where hepatitis A is common
• Attend child care or work in a child care center
• Live with another person who has hepatitis A
• Are a man who has sexual contact with other men
• Have any type of sexual contact with someone who has hepatitis A
• Are HIV positive
• Are experiencing homelessness
• Have a clotting-factor disorder, such as hemophilia

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