{"id":7347,"date":"2019-12-26T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-26T14:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=7347"},"modified":"2020-07-10T15:15:06","modified_gmt":"2020-07-10T19:15:06","slug":"should-you-get-the-hepatitis-a-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/should-you-get-the-hepatitis-a-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"Should you get the hepatitis A vaccine?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hepatitis A (hep A) is all over the news. Last month in Philadelphia, <\/span>health officials warned<\/span><\/a> of exposure at a Center City restaurant where a food-service worker tested positive for the virus. Aldi and Raley\u2019s recalled <\/span>frozen berries<\/span><\/a> after a possible hep A contamination. This year, the states of <\/span>Florida<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>New Jersey<\/span><\/a> have seen outbreaks of the condition as hep A cases continued to climb. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports there\u2019s been<\/span> \u201cwidespread\u201d<\/span><\/a> person-to-person transmission of hep A across the country, with cases of the infection up<\/span> 140% from 2011 to 2017<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hep A is usually a self-limiting, mild disease, but it can be deadly, especially in the elderly or those with chronic liver disease. You can get hep A by eating food or drinking water contaminated with even miniscule amounts of stool tainted with the hepatitis A virus (HAV). That can happen anywhere along the food chain\u2014from growing food to processing and serving it. Hep A can also be passed by touching a surface soiled with infected stool and then touching your mouth, via sex with an infected partner, and from the exchange of soiled objects, especially hep A infected needles. The good news: There is a hepatitis A vaccine. Do <\/span>you<\/span><\/i> need one?<\/span><\/p>\n

Who needs the hepatitis A vaccine?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Despite what the increasing number of hep A cases suggests, the infection is a preventable one. Just one dose of the two-part hep A vaccine gives 95% of vaccinated adults <\/span>protection<\/span><\/a> within four weeks; almost 100% of adults get protection after the second dose, which is given six months later.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children are routinely vaccinated against the disease between <\/span>12 and 23 months of age<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s largely because young children, who are often asymptomatic, can be a big source of transmission, especially at day care centers [where dirty diapers are routinely changed and proper handwashing may be lacking],\u201d says <\/span>Blaine Hollinger, MD<\/span><\/a>, a member of the American Liver Foundation\u2019s National Medical Advisory Committee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to young children, the CDC recommends vaccination for anyone in a high-risk group. That includes those who:<\/span><\/p>\n