HAV-1

MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY ON-LINE

ACUTE HEPATITIS A CASE DEFINITION FOR SURVEILLANCE

Clinical criteria
An acute illness with:
discrete onset of symptoms (e.g. fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, intermittent nausea, vomiting),

and jaundice or elevated serum aminotransferase levels

Laboratory criteria
IgM antibody to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) positive
Case Classification
Confirmed. A case that meets the clinical case definition and is laboratory confirmed or a case that meets the clinical case definition and occurs in a person who has an epidemiologic link with a person who has laboratory-confirmed hepatitis A (i.e., household or sexual contact with an infected person during the 15-50 days before the onset of symptoms).