What is acute hepatitis?
Hepatitis is inflammation (swelling) of your liver. An acute illness is one that comes on quickly and goes away quickly. Acute hepatitis sometimes becomes chronic hepatitis. A chronic illness is one that lasts a long time.
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Acute hepatitis is often caused by a viral infection
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Your symptoms can range from mild and flu-like to severe and life-threatening
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Doctors do blood tests to see if you have acute hepatitis and what virus is the cause
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You can get vaccines (shots) to prevent some types of viral hepatitis
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Certain activities, like getting tattoos or piercings, sharing needles to inject drugs, or having several sex partners, raise your risk of getting hepatitis
What causes acute hepatitis?
The different hepatitis viruses spread in different ways:
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Hepatitis A: through water or food contaminated by stool (poop) from infected people
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Hepatitis B: through contact with blood or body fluids from infected people, for example, by having sex or sharing needles (to use drugs or get tattoos)—also, a pregnant woman can pass hepatitis B to her baby
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Hepatitis C: through contact with blood from infected people, for example, by sharing needles—having sex usually doesn't transmit hepatitis C
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Hepatitis D: Same as hepatitis B
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Hepatitis E: Same as hepatitis A
What are the symptoms of acute hepatitis?
You may have no symptoms at all, or you may have symptoms like:
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Less hungry than usual
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Fever, throwing up, or feeling sick to your stomach
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Pain in the upper right part of your belly, which is where your liver is
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Yellowing of your skin and the white parts of your eyes (jaundice)
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Dark urine
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A distaste for cigarettes, if you smoke
Many symptoms usually go away in 3 to 10 days, and you start to feel better. The yellowing of your skin and eyes can last 2 to 4 weeks.
What are the complications of acute hepatitis?
You may have no complications but sometimes:
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With hepatitis A or B, your liver stops working (liver failure)
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With hepatitis B, C, or D, the hepatitis becomes chronic
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With hepatitis B, C, or D, you can get liver cancer years later
How can doctors tell if I have acute hepatitis?
How do doctors treat acute hepatitis?
If you have mild acute viral hepatitis:
If you have severe acute viral hepatitis, you may need:
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To be cared for in the hospital
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Medicines that help kill the virus
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Rarely, a liver transplant
How can I prevent acute hepatitis?
You can get shots (vaccines) to prevent infections from hepatitis A or B. People in China also can get shots for hepatitis E.
If you may have been in contact with someone with hepatitis A or B, you can get a shot that helps fight the infection.
You can also help prevent acute viral hepatitis if you:
