The virus is spread by close personal contact when someone who has hepatitis A does not wash his or her hands thoroughly, or by eating food or drinking water containing hepatitis A virus. In 1992, there were an estimated 23,112 cases of HAV in the United States, with an estimated 100 deaths. The hepatitis A vaccine is made from a killed virus and is administered in the upper arm.
Adults require two doses of the vaccine for full protection.
Children between 2-18 years of age require three doses of the vaccine. The vaccine usually causes very little reaction, except for some soreness in the upper arm. People living in religious communities where hepatitis A is common. Hepatitis B is a serious liver disease caused by a virus. Hepatitis B infects about 300,000 people each year, and kills about 5,000 people each year.