Therapy recommendations
- Hepatitis A is not treated with drug therapy. Rather, all drugs that are not absolutely necessary should be discontinued to relieve the liver as much as possible.
- Postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) [see below].
- Partner management, i.e., infected partners, if any, must be traced and treated (contacts must be traced depending on the estimated time of infection or up to two weeks before the onset of jaundice).
- See also under “Further therapy.”
Postexposure prophylaxis (PEP)
Post-exposure prophylaxis is the provision of medication to prevent disease in individuals who are not protected against a particular disease by vaccination but have been exposed to it.
Postexposure prophylaxis in the unvaccinated by hepatitis A vaccination* or with immunoglobulin can prevent HAV disease if given within two weeks of exposure.
* Two monovalent HAV vaccines and the combined HAV/HBV vaccine can be used for hepatitis A vaccination. The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) published updated recommendations.
Only in special risk constellations should additional administration of anti-HAV immunoglobulin be given: see Indications below.
Indications
- Persons in contact with a diseased person, especially in community settings.
- Persons for whom hepatitis A poses a particularly high risk (e.g., those chronically infected with HBV or HCV; immunosuppression; chronic liver disease)
Implementation
- Anti-HAV immunoglobulin can be administered at the same time as the first vaccination with the inactivated vaccine.
