Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver, usually caused by a viral infection. Of the five main types of viral hepatitis, the most common is hepatitis A, which has been with us for a long time.

Hippocrates, the Greek father of medicine, is believed to have been the first to describe the disease in the 5th century BC Viral hepatitis was likely the reason the entire nation of Israel fell ill after eating contaminated quail eggs like Numbers 11: 32-33. Tell us. Twenty-seven outbreaks of hepatitis A have been reported in seventeenth and eighteenth-century Europe, and even Napoleon’s army proved no match for the disease that struck his troops in 1799.

Although hepatitis A is found primarily in developing countries where poverty, overcrowding, and inadequate access to clean water and food are common, industrialized nations are not spared from this problem. Epidemics have occurred in the United States as early as 1812 and in Sweden, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

In the United States, hepatitis A is responsible for more than 143,000 infections and 80 deaths a year. The disease costs the American public more than $ 200 million annually. In other countries, the number of people with hepatitis A infection ranges from 10 to 50 per 100,000 people a year.

In Eastern European countries, there are around 50 to 300 cases per 100,000 each year. The global incidence of hepatitis A exceeds 1.4 million cases and costs between $ 1.5 and $ 3 billion a year.

Although hepatitis A has been with us since ancient times, the virus responsible for the disease was not identified until 1973. During the 19th century, the disease was thought to be caused by a biliary obstruction.

In 1908, scientists hypothesized that an infectious agent was involved. As more epidemics occurred in World War I, an army doctor suggested that contaminated food and water could be the means of transmitting the disease. That observation finally proved correct.

Other studies of human volunteers during World War II showed that the infectious agent was confined to faeces. Three decades later, Drs. Robert Purcell, Albert Kapikian, and Stephen Feinstone of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases saw the hepatitis A virus for the first time.

People get hepatitis A by ingesting food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person. Cases of transmission through saliva and oropharyngeal secretions have been reported, although rare.

Once inside the body, the hepatitis A virus (HAV) attacks liver cells. But even before any of its symptoms appear, the infected person can transmit the disease to other people.

“Food or drinks contaminated with fecal matter that contain the virus will give you hepatitis A. The person with hepatitis A passes the virus in their feces and transmits the disease to others,” explained Dr. Nina G. Barzaga from the Department of Medicine Microbiology , School of Public Health, University of the Philippines.

“If you have hepatitis A, the virus will be in your stool, blood, and bile for two to three weeks before any symptoms develop. The virus clears once jaundice develops within two to three weeks. Therefore , anyone who comes into contact with your blood or stool, even before symptoms appear, can become infected with the virus, “added Dr. David E. Larson, editor-in-chief of the Mayo Family Health Book. Clinic.

In others, it can take 40 days to two months before signs of hepatitis A appear. These include flu-like symptoms such as fever, sore throat, loss of appetite, muscle and joint pain. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea or constipation can follow along with chills, weight loss, and a dislike of smoking.

Because the infected liver cannot filter the bilirubin (bile pigment) from the blood, jaundice develops and the urine turns the color of tea. (Next: Jaundice is not always a sign of hepatitis A.)