Viral Hepatitis (Cont.)

How Is Viral Hepatitis Transmitted?

Viral hepatitis transmission varies, based on the type of viral hepatitis. Four ways that the disease may be spread include:
 
  • Infected stool (fecal-oral transmission)
  • Infected blood products
  • Other infected bodily fluids, such as semen, vaginal fluids, or saliva
  • During delivery of a baby.
     
Hepatitis A and E are spread through fecal-oral transmission. This occurs when an uninfected person puts something in the mouth that has been contaminated with the stool of an infected person (even if it looks clean). Hepatitis B is spread through infected blood or bodily fluids. Hepatitis C is most often transmitted through infected blood. While hepatitis C can be spread through sexual intercourse, this is rare.
 
Click any of the following links to learn more about how the different types of viral hepatitis are transmitted:
 

Incubation Period for Viral Hepatitis

Following viral hepatitis transmission, a person does not immediately become sick. Once the specific hepatitis virus enters the body, it travels to the liver, where it begins to multiply.
 
After 14 to 180 days, viral hepatitis symptoms can begin. This period between hepatitis transmission and the start of hepatitis signs and symptoms is called the "hepatitis incubation period."
 
Hepatitis A tends to have the shortest incubation period (30 days on average), while hepatitis B and hepatitis D tend to have the longest (60 to 90 days on average).
 
(Viral Hepatitis Continued: Page 3)

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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD