How contagious is hepatitis A?
Casual contacts – fellow classmates or work associates, for example – are generally not at risk. Because close personal contact in classrooms or offices is unlikely and because older children and adults typically practice good hygiene, the likelihood that hepatitis A will be transmitted in these settings is reduced. However, hepatitis A can be transmitted in child day-care settings, especially if good hygiene is not practiced after changing diapers. It also is due to the close personal contact among children, who are still learning to practice proper hygiene. The contagious period begins about two weeks before symptoms appear and continues up to one week after the onset of jaundice (a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes). Because of the delay in symptoms, a person can transmit the virus without realizing it. In Illinois, the incidence of hepatitis A has declined since 1990, when 1,726 cases were recorded to 112 cases in 2008.
