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Complications of hepatitis A virus infection

Authoring team

  • prolonged jaundice and/or relapses
    • seen in around 15% of the patients
  • cholestatic hepatitis (1)
  • fulminant (acute) liver failure
    • occurs in approximately 0.4% of cases
    • common in patients with associated chronic hepatitis B or C
    • mortality is around 40% without liver transplant (2)
  • in pregnancy - increased risk of miscarriage and prematurity proportional to the severity (2)

The overall mortality is less than 0.1%, although this rises to 40% in those with acute liver failure (2) and symptomatic hepatitis, severe disease, and death are more likely to occur when infection occurs at an older age (3)

Reference:

  1. World Health Organization (WHO) 2009. The global prevalence of hepatitis A virus infection and susceptibility: a systematic review
  2. United Kingdom National Guideline on the Management of the viral hepatitides A, B and C; British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (2015)
  3. Aggarwal R, Goel A; Hepatitis A: epidemiology in resource-poor countries. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2015 Oct;28(5):488-96.

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The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

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