Etiology, Incidence, Epidemiological, and Clinical Comparison of Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and Delta Hepatitis

	Hepatitis A	Hepatitis B	Hepatitis C	Delta Hepatitis
Incubation	2-6 weeks	4 weeks-6 months	Variable: 14-160 days; average, 50 days	Same as hepatitis B
Communicable	Until 7-9 days after jaundice occurs	Several months-as long as virus present in blood	As long as virus present in blood	As long as virus present in blood
Transmission	Fecal-oral; blood; sexual	Parenteral; sexual; perinatal	Percutaneous, via contaminated blood, parenteral drug abuse; some fecal-oral forms; sexual, perinatal	Parenteral; blood
Sources	Crowding; contaminated food, milk, or	Contaminated needles, syringes, surgical instruments	Persons who have received 15 or more blood transfusions; IV drug users; persons traveling to contaminated areas	Contaminated needles, syringes
Portal of entry	GI tract; asymptomatic	Integumentary: blood plasma or transfusions	Blood	Integumentary: blood
HB antigen	Not present	Present	Not present	Present as with hepatitis B
Incidence	Sporadic epidemics; increased in children	Increased in ages 15-29, particularly in heroin addiction; occupational hazard for laboratory workers, nurses, physicians	All ages groups; higher in adults because of exposure to risk factors	Same as hepatitis B
Immunity	Preexposure: immune globulin, 0.02 mL/kg Postexposure: within 2 weeks of exposure, as above	Preexposure: hepatitis B vaccine Postexposure: immune globulin with high amounts of anti-HBs (HBIG); hepatitis B vaccine	None; immune globulin may be given
Prevention	Hand washing, use of gloves; hepatitis A vaccine	Care when handling products contaminated by blood, use of gloves; Hepatitis B vaccine	Same as hepatitis B	Same as hepatitis B
Severity	Mild	Mild to moderate	Mild to moderate	Moderate to severe
Fever	Common	Uncommon	Uncommon	Uncommon
Nausea/ vomiting	Common	Common	Common	Common