In children, the most common form of hepatitis is hepatitis A (also called infectious hepatitis). This form is caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), which lives in the stools (feces or poop) of infected individuals. Infected stool can be present in small amounts in food and on objects (from doorknobs to diapers).

HAV is spread:

1. when someone ingests anything that’s contaminated with HAV-infected stool (this makes it easy for the virus to spread in overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions)
2. in water, milk, and foods, especially in shellfish

Other common hepatitis virus infections include hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Hepatitis A is the least serious and mildest of these diseases. The other hepatitis infections may become chronic illnesses, but hepatitis A does not become chronic.

Symptoms usually appear 2 to 6 weeks after your child is infected with the virus. Hepatitis A is sometimes so mild, especially in children, that there are few or no obvious symptoms. If your child has symptoms, the illness usually begins with:

• loss of appetite
• fever
• general aching
• tiredness

After several days there may be:

• nausea and vomiting
• foul breath and bitter taste in the mouth
• dark brown urine
• yellowish skin and eyes (jaundice)
• pain just below the ribs on the right side, especially if you press on that part of the abdomen
• bowel movements that are whitish or light yellow and may be looser than normal

Once a clinical infection is established, there is no specific treatment for hepatitis A.  Affected individuals generally suffer from loss of appetite, so the main concern is ensuring a patient receives adequate nutrition and avoids permanent liver damage (Mayo Clinic, 2009). An individual’s perception of the severity of fatigue or malaise is the best determinant of the need for rest.

Treatment of those suffering from fulminant hepatic failure depends largely on the affected person’s status.  Those who have not become encephalopathic generally undergo an intense course of supportive treatment.  But for those whose liver failure is so complete that it has lead to encephalopathy or cerebral edema, timely liver transplantation is often the only option. Unfortunately, many individuals with irreversible liver failure do not receive a transplant because of contraindications or the unavailability of donor livers (Feldman, 2002).