Immune Globulin
Vaccination
Symptoms

This is the most common type of hepatitis worldwide. Its incidence among travelers has been estimated in studies as involving as many as three in 100 travelers. The virus is usually transmitted by food and water in areas where there is poor sanitation. Contaminated shellfish, harvested from polluted waters, are often responsible for outbreaks. The virus is killed when heated to 180°F (85°C) so the thorough cooking of food will prevent infection unless it's contaminated after cooking by improper handling. A less common means of transmission is through close person-to-person contact.

The fatality rate of hepatitis A is extremely low, but this risk increases with age. The disease risk can be greatly reduced by being foodwise and waterwise, but studies demonstrate that risk to travelers increases with the length of time of exposure in developing countries, even when adhering to standard tourist itineraries. If you are going to be in a developing country for an extended length of time, your physician may recommend immunoglobulin or vaccination.

Immune GlobulinTop

You can get short-term protection against hepatitis A with an injection of immune (sometimes called gamma) globulin (IG). The length of protection this gives varies with the amount of IG given, with a maximum of 5 cc. offering from 6 to 12 months of protection. Even if HIV antibodies were present in pooled immune globulin, this would not constitute an AIDS risk because it does not indicate the presence of a virus. In fact, any product batch with such HIV antibodies present is discarded and no disease has ever been passed in the many years of IG's intramuscular use.

VaccinationTop

There is now a vaccine that provides long-term active immunity against hepatitis A. The hepatitis A vaccination is recommended for 1) frequent travelers who want to avoid getting an injection of immune globulin prior to each trip to a risk area, and 2) persons planning extended travel or residence in a lesser-developed country. The vaccine probably offers protection for 10 years.

SymptomsTop

Symptoms usually appear 2 to 6 weeks after exposure. Most adults have hepatitis symptoms which consist of malaise, nausea and lack of appetite as the predominant ones. Vomiting, aches, abdominal pain and fever can also occur followed by the diagnostic jaundice (yellow color of the skin and eyes) that develops a week later. Young children often have asymptomatic or mild disease. By the time the jaundice appears, the virus is no longer in your stool or blood and you are no longer infectious, so quarantine or isolation procedures are not really necessary. However, close contacts such as family members or companions should receive immune globulin if they are not immune.