Hepatitis A Prognosis

Hepatitis A symptoms are usually mild and resolve on their own; most patients fully recover in 3 to 6 months.

• Rarely will patients develop complications such as relapsing hepatitis or liver failure.
• With relapsing hepatitis, symptoms improve, but then return
• Death from hepatitis A is rare.
• The elderly, the very young, and people with advanced chronic liver diseases such as from hepatitis C are at greatest risk for complications such as liver failure or fulminant hepatitis (rapid developing and life-threatening liver failure) from hepatitis.
• The cause of hepatitis A is hepatitis A virus(HAV) that is transmitted person to person by contaminated foods, water or other drinks (including ice), blood, stool, and direct contact. The virus is a Picornavirus that contains single-stranded RNA as its genome covered by a protein shell. The virus enters through theepithelium in the mouth or gut and migrates to the liver over a period of about two to six weeks. Symptoms (jaundice and other symptoms, see below) then begin to develop as the virus replicates in the liver cells(hepatocytes and Kupffer cells, also termed liver macrophages). HAV reproduces itself by utilizing the liver cell's ribosomes for viral replication; however this interferes with normal liver cell function. If large numbers of liver cells are infected with HAV, the person will develop symptoms. The viruses are secreted into the GI tract by the bile fluid made in the liver. The majority of people infected recover with no lasting damage to the liver.
  Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) Courtesy of the CDC