Notice: Users may be experiencing issues with displaying some pages on stanfordhealthcare.org. We are working closely with our technical teams to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.
New to MyHealth?
Manage Your Care From Anywhere.
Access your health information from any device with MyHealth. You can message your clinic, view lab results, schedule an appointment, and pay your bill.
ALREADY HAVE AN ACCESS CODE?
DON'T HAVE AN ACCESS CODE?
NEED MORE DETAILS?
MyHealth for Mobile
Causes of Hepatitis A
What Causes Hepatitis A?
This type of hepatitis is usually spread by fecal-oral contact or fecal-infected food and water, and may also be spread by blood-borne infection (which is rare).
The following is a list of modes of transmission for hepatitis A:
- Consuming food made by someone who touched infected feces
- Drinking water that is contaminated by infected feces (a problem in developing countries with poor sewage removal)
- Touching an infected person's feces, which may occur with poor handwashing
- Outbreaks may occur in large childcare centers, especially when there are children in diapers
- Residents of american indian reservations or native alaskan villages where hepatitis a may be more common
- Sexual contact with an infected person
Generally, casual contact in school or the workplace does not cause spread of the virus.
See also: