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Viral hepatitis (A, B & C)

Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver, and it can be caused by a virus or other non-viral causes. The main difference between the viruses is how they are spread and the effects they have on your health.

Prevention

There are safe and effective vaccines that protect you from getting hepatitis A and B. While there is no vaccine for hep C, by being ‘blood aware’ you can reduce your overall chance of being exposed to the virus.

Living with Hepatitis

People with chronic hepatitis can do a number of things to stay healthy including limiting/avoiding alcohol, reducing stress, not smoking, getting regular exercise and eating a healthy diet.

Treatment

Effective treatment is available for both chronic hepatitis B and C. Before you can see a liver specialist to talk about going on treatment, you need to get a referral from your GP first.

Viral hepatitis (A, B & C)

Approximately 570 million people worldwide are affected by hepatitis B or C – that is one in every 12 people. While there are six different types of viral hepatitis (A, B, C, D, E and G) – in Australia, the most common types are A, B and C.

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is a virus that causes inflammation of the liver; however it does not lead to long-term liver disease. Click on the link above for more information.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is a virus that can cause damage to your liver. Up to 165,000 people in Australia have chronic (long-term) hep B. Hepatitis B is different to HIV/AIDS, or hepatitis A, C, D or E. Click on the link above for more information.

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a blood borne virus; this means that for transmission to occur hepatitis C positive blood must directly enter the bloodstream of another person. Click on the link above for more information.

Hepatitis A, B and C: A comparison

Hepatitis	Transmission	Incubation Period*	Chronic Infection	Vaccine
Hepatitis A	Faecal-oral Contaminated food and water Contaminated hand-to-mouth contact	2-7 weeks	No	Yes
Hepatitis B	Sexual contact Blood-to-blood Mother with hepatitis B to her newborn baby	6-26 weeks	Yes	Yes
Hepatitis C	Blood-to-blood Mother with chronic hepatitis C to her newborn baby (low risk)	2-26 weeks	Yes	No

*Incubation period: from time of exposure until onset of virus