The virus has to run its course, which varies from weeks to months. Most people fully recover. Ingesting fecal-contaminated food or water is the only way to catch the A virus, unlike the more dangerous but slightly less common hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis B most often is transmitted through sexual contact. Food servers who don't wash their hands after using the bathroom spread hepatitis A. Unwashed shellfish from contaminated water can carry the virus.
Drinking water contaminated with sewage is another way to catch it.
Hepatitis A is so common that 152,000 cases are reported in this country each year. Forty cases already have been reported to Panhandle Health District through May this year, which equals the total number of cases in North Idaho in 1997. The number of hepatitis A victims is rising so fast that public health agencies have launched a national campaign promoting good hygiene - the best prevention. Allison's parents, younger sister and uneasy friends got immune globulin shots to boost their immune systems. Some friends panicked and stayed away from Allison.