A child has had a fever for several days, loss of appetite and pain in the right upper abdomen. After a few days, the whites of the eyes turn yellow and the skin also becomes yellowish. There is probably something wrong with the liver, there is a good chance that the child has Hepatitis A. What is this, how can you become infected with it and what are the consequences?
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is contagious jaundice, an inflammation of the liver. It is caused by a virus.
Incubation period
The incubation period is the time between the actual infection and the appearance of the first symptoms. During this time, an infectious disease can already be contagious. For Hepatitis A, the incubation period is 2 to 6 weeks. The child can infect another child from 1 week before the yellowing until 1 week after.
Symptoms and complications
Common symptoms of Hepatitis A are;
- Fever,
- Lack of appetite,
- Nausea,
- Pain in the right upper abdomen,
- Fatigue,
- After a few days, the whites of the eyes and skin become yellowish,
- Urine turns a cola-like color,
- Stool turns white.
Contamination and consequences
The virus for Hepatitis A is present in the child’s feces and is easily transmitted. Contamination usually occurs via the hands. This infection is caused by eating contaminated food, drinking contaminated water or insufficient hygiene.
Exclusion from daycare, playgroup or school
With some infectious diseases, a child is not welcome at a daycare center, playgroup or school for a while because of the high risk of infection. The GGD (Municipal Health Care) has drawn up rules for this. Preventing a child from having Hepatitis A is often not useful, because it is often unclear whether the child has Hepatitis A. If this is the case, for example in case of jaundice after a holiday, the child must be excluded until 1 week after the jaundice.
Report to the GGD
For some infectious diseases, a treating physician is obliged to report to the GGD that a child has this infectious disease. Jaundice (Hepatitis A) must be reported to the GGD by both children’s centers and the treating physician.