Anyone traveling to an area with high rates of hepatitis should consider getting vaccinated against this viral disease. Eating street food, staying in budget accommodation and doing watersports in areas with poor sanitation will all increase your risk of exposure to the virus that causes hepatitis A.
What is hepatitis A?
Hepatitis A is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the liver. It is a short-term illness, but it still takes months to recover from an attack of hepatitis, and the symptoms may come and go for up to six months.
The CDC has some information about hepatitis.
How is hepatitis A spread?
Travelers catch hep A via water and food contaminated with feces (poo), or by person-to-person contact.
What are the symptoms of hepatitis A?
The symptoms of hep A are:
- abdominal pain
- dark urine
- fatigue
- jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)
- loss of appetite
- nausea and vomiting
What should I do if I think I have hepatitis A?
If you feel unwell on your return from your trip abroad, it’s a good idea to speak to a medical professional to rule out serious illness. Tell them where you’ve been, and be honest about risk factors.
Note that in some patients hepatitis A can cause liver failure. If you get the following symptoms, seek immediate medical help:
- sudden vomiting
- nosebleeds or bleeding gums or a tendency to bruise easily
- drowsiness, irritability and memory problems
How do I avoid hepatitis A?
There is a safe, effective vaccine against hepatitis A, which you can get from a travel health clinic before your departure. One dose of the vaccine lasts four years; but you can get a booster after six months that will give you 25 years of protection. You can also get the hep A vaccine in a combined shot with the hepatitis B vaccine or with the typhoid vaccine.
Vaccines are an effective way of enhancing your body’s immunity, but you’ll need to support your immune system by practicing good food and water hygiene as well. Even if you are fully vaccinated against hepatitis A, you still need to wash your hands frequently and think carefully about what and where you eat, because there are other food- and water-borne diseases that cannot be prevented by a vaccine.
Here is our advice on avoiding food-borne illnesses. And this is our advice on avoiding water-borne diseases.
Do I need a hepatitis A shot for my trip abroad?
Regions with high rates of hepatitis A include Africa, parts of Asia, South America and the Middle East.
To find out if hepatitis A is a risk at your destination, make an appointment with a travel health clinic, like Global Travel Clinics. Our travel health pharmacists can tell you about the risks you may be exposed to at your destination – including hepatitis A. They can tell you what vaccines you should get to protect your health while traveling. This may include the hepatitis A vaccine.
We would like to see you six to eight weeks before your trip abroad. This is because some vaccines have to be given in two doses; and because there may be a short delay before you are fully protected by your vaccine. But we can help with last-minute travel shots: partial protection is better than no protection.
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