Hepatitis A

The Disease:

Hepatitis A is food-borne viral infection that can cause a self-limited liver infection with nausea, vomiting, fever, dark urine, yellow eyes and skin (jaundice). The disease spreads primarily through eating contaminated food or water, or by contact with feces of another infected person.

The Vaccine:

Vaccination with an inactivated viral vaccine is given as two doses at least 6 months apart in children at their 12- and 18-month doctor visits. Local reactions rarely occur. Serious reactions, including Guillain-Barre syndrome and blood clotting problems, have occurred in 0.0004 percent of patients who received the vaccine.