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| Hep A |
Hepatitis A is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). HAV is found in the stool and blood of people who are infected. Hep A is very contagious. It is spread when someone unknowingly ingests the virus — even in microscopic amounts — from an infected person or through eating contaminated food or drink. Symptoms of hep A can last up to 2 months and include fatigue, nausea, stomach pain, and jaundice. Most people with hep A do not have long-lasting illness.
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| Hep B |
Hepatitis B is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hep B is spread when blood, semen, or other body fluids from a person infected with the virus enters the body of someone who is not infected. This can happen through sexual contact; sharing drug-injection equipment; or from mother to baby at birth. Possible symptoms can include fatigue, poor appetite, stomach pain, nausea, and jaundice. For many people, hep B is a short-term illness. For others, it can lead to serious, even life-threatening health issues like cirrhosis or liver cancer.
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| Hep C |
Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hep C is spread through contact with blood from an infected person. Today, most people become infected with the hep C virus by sharing drug-injection equipment. For some people, hep C is a short-term illness, but for more than half of people who become infected with the hepatitis C virus, it becomes a long-term, chronic infection. Chronic hep C can result in serious, even life-threatening health problems like cirrhosis and liver cancer. People with chronic hepatitis C can often have no symptoms and don’t feel sick. When symptoms appear, they often are a sign of advanced liver disease.
Hepatitis D only occurs in people who are also infected with the hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis E is a rare liver infection hardly occurring in developed countries.
If you are diagnosed with viral hepatitis or any other form of hepatitis, you will generally be referred to either a gastroenterologist, who specializes in diseases of the digestive tract (including the liver), or a hepatologist, who specializes solely in diseases of the liver.
Dr. Maurice Hilleman spent decades researching and investigating viral hepatitis.
In 1981 he created a human-blood-derived hepatitis B vaccine, Heptavax-B. It was the first subunit viral vaccine developed in the United States. The vaccine proved effective at preventing hepatitis B. But, because of concerns about HIV infection, it was superseded in 1986 by a product that did not use human serum. Dr. Hilleman replaced human blood products used in the 1981 vaccine with an enzyme to remove the virus’s surface protein. The yeast-derived surface protein produced immunity to the hepatitis B virus.
Hilleman was one of the first scientists to detect the hepatitis A virus and its antibodies. Tests in 1992 showed that the vaccine was 100% effective in preventing the disease. So in 1995 the FDA approved it for licensed use.
Vaccines are available, and recommended, for prevention of Hepatitis A & B. Hepatitis C does not need vaccination, Hepatitis D is prevented through the vaccine for Hep B, and Hepatitis E is not vaccinated for in the United States or other developed countries.
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