hepatitis A

noun

: an acute usually benign hepatitis that is caused by a picornavirus (species Hepatitis A virus of the genus Hepatovirus), is marked by fatigue, fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, darkened urine, and jaundice but may be asymptomatic, especially in children, and is transmitted especially in food and water contaminated with infected fecal matter

Note: Unlike other forms of hepatitis, hepatitis A is a short-term illness that does not progress to a chronic condition and does not typically cause permanent liver damage.

called also infectious hepatitis

Examples of hepatitis A in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, in 2003, there was an outbreak of hepatitis A at one of its Pennsylvania locations due to contaminated green onions served to diners, which resulted in more than 650 guests becoming ill, with four of them dying. —Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025

The clinic will provide Tdap, hepatitis A, meningitis, and HPV vaccines. —Debra Skodack, Kansas City Star, 1 Oct. 2025

But there is variation in requirements for others, such as varicella (chicken pox), meningococcal, rotavirus, influenza, and hepatitis A and B vaccines. —Sherri Gordon, Parents, 18 Sep. 2025

Ladapo’s predecessors stressed the importance of hepatitis A vaccines and flu shots. —Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 12 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

hepatitis A

noun

-ˈā 

: an acute usually benign hepatitis that is caused by a picornavirus (species Hepatitis A virus of the genus Hepatovirus), is marked by fatigue, fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, darkened urine, and jaundice but may be asymptomatic, especially in children, and is transmitted especially in food and water contaminated with infected fecal matter

Note: Unlike other forms of hepatitis, hepatitis A is a short-term illness that does not progress to a chronic condition and does not typically cause permanent liver damage.

called also infectious hepatitis

see havrix