What Are the Risk Factors for Hepatitis A?

Children, teens, and adults who may be at high risk of hepatitis A include the following:

• People traveling to areas of where hepatitis A is prevalent, including, but not limited to: Africa, Asia (except Japan), the Mediterranean basin, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central and South America, Mexico, and parts of the Caribbean
• People living in or relocating to any community in the US or abroad with one or more recorded hepatitis A outbreaks within the past five years
• Military personnel
• People who engage in high-risk sexual activity
• Users of illegal intravenous (IV) drugs
• Hemophiliacs and other recipients of therapeutic blood products
• Employees of daycare centers
• Institutional care workers
• Laboratory workers who handle live hepatitis A virus
• People who handle primate animals that may be carrying the hepatitis A virus

Hepatitis A is sometimes called a traveler's disease because it is the most frequently occurring, vaccine-preventable infection in travelers. However, it is possible to become infected with hepatitis A virus without ever leaving the United States. Some cases reported in the United States have occurred in people with no identifiable risk factors.