Any time is a good time to learn the hepatitis ABCs — that is, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C! We do not have to become an expert about hepatitis, but we all need to know the basic facts so that we can protect our health and that of our family, friends, partners, and community.
Let’s begin with what hepatitis is: It is an inflammation of the liver that is most often caused by a virus.
In the United States, 3 types of hepatitis are most common, hepatitis A, B, and C. Each one can produce similar symptoms, but each one is also different in how long it can last and how serious to your health and well-being it can be.
Hepatitis A is a short-term illness, and most people recover within days or weeks with no lasting health effects. We now have a vaccine to prevent hepatitis A, and new cases have decreased to fewer than 5,000 in the United States annually. However, isolated outbreaks of hepatitis A still occur, in part because many adults have never
