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.