Hepatitis A (HAV) is caused by a virus found in feces (people's stool). You can get it by coming in contact with infected feces. The most common way is by swallowing food or liquids that get contaminated by hands that are not washed thoroughly after using the toilet. You can also get Hepatitis A through sexual acts like 'rimming' (licking someone's anus) or via oral sex on a male's penis after he has had anal sex.
Almost everyone infected with Hepatitis A completely recovers in about 4 to 8 weeks. Although there are not always symptoms, you may suffer from nausea, vomiting, jaundice (yellow skin and/or eyes), diarrhea, and/or extreme lack of energy. Hepatitis A is rarely dangerous unless accompanied by Hepatitis C. You can pass Hepatitis A to another person even if there are no symptoms. After recovery of Hepatitis A you can not spread it to others and you will be immune from getting it again. The immune system develops antibodies that can fight off future exposure.
Hepatitis B (HBV) is caused by a virus that lives in body fluids that include blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk. You can get it by having unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone infected with Hepatitis B. There is also high risk in sharing needles (tattoos, ear-piercing, drug needles). Because it is transmitted so easily through body fluids, you can also get it by touching someone's open sore or cut with your own open sore of cut, or by sharing items (toothbrushes, razors, etc). Hepatitis can also be passed from a pregnant mother to her child.
When infected with Hepatitis B, the sickness may start gradually, usually lasting a month or two. Some people have no symptoms, but they can include yellow skin or eyes, feeling tired, fever, loss of appetite, stomach pain, nausea, swollen glands, pain in the joints, dark urine, skin rash, weight loss, liver pain (upper right side of the belly just below the rib cage). Only about 1% of people with HBV die, and most people recover completely within about 6 months. However, about 5-10% of people remain capable of spreading the virus for the rest of their lives and can develop chronic liver disease.
Hepatitis C (HCV) is caused by a virus found in the blood. Although some information about how this is passed from person to person is not clear, it is very clear that it is transmitted through blood to blood contact, such as sharing needles (to inject drugs, or for tatoos , ear-piercing, etc.). In the past, some people got Hepatitis C from blood transfusions, but today the risk is small, since blood for transfusions is screened. In a few instances, a woman has passed the virus to her baby during pregnancy or birth, but this is not common.
Most people do not realize they are infected with Hepatitis C. Very few people develop the usual symptoms of jaundice, fever, and flu-like symptoms that can last up to 6 weeks, right after getting infected. Others discover they're infected years later when they get sick and testing confirms the virus. A large percentage of people (75-80%) with Hepatitis C never clear the virus out of their body and continue to infect others.
