There are five different types of hepatitis, like hepatitis A, B, C, D, E, that are cause by hepatitis viruses. This hepatitis virus grows in a person' s liver and causes a lot of damage to this organ. Our immune system fights back against hepatitis, but is takes a while to eliminate the infection in our liver.

To better understand hepatitis, you must first know how you can get this disease. Well, before a person gets sick, but has already contacted the hepatitis A virus, they shed it in their feces. If somehow the hepatitis A virus gets into the main water supply and you use it to wash your body, food, etc. you are a possible hepatitis victim. This way of spread the hepatitis A virus is called fecal- oral transmission. This is the most common form of transmitting the viral hepatitis.

People who live in countries that are just developing are more at risk of developing hepatitis, because the sewage system is not properly cleaned. So much of the water that these people use is contaminated by the hepatitis virus that spreads very easily and causes hepatitis A. This hepatitis virus does not kick in from the beginning. It may take about 30 days for the symptoms of hepatitis to show. This time that the hepatitis virus does not show any symptoms is called an incubation period. However, many of the people infected with the hepatitis virus will not develop hepatitis. This is mostly true in children. Older people are more at risk of getting hepatitis.

Some of the most common hepatitis symptoms are tiredness, nausea, vomiting, a general loss of your apatite. Another major hepatitis symptom is pain in your liver area, that is in the right side of the abdomen, under your ribs. A striking hepatitis symptom is the change in color. Your skin will become yellow to orange and the white portion of your eyes will also become yellow if you have hepatitis. In most people the symptoms of hepatitis last about one month. After proper treatment, the hepatitis A will no longer be a problem for you.

There is also a simple way of avoiding infection with the hepatitis A virus and that is the hepatitis A vaccine.