What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of hepatitis E are relatively unspecific and similar to those of hepatitis A. Often an infection proceeds without symptoms (asymptomatic) and goes unnoticed by those affected. General symptoms include: flu-like symptoms fever nausea and vomiting diarrhea headaches fatigue and exhaustion pain in the right upper abdomen jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the white conjunctiva of the eyes) light, colorless stool dark urine
- Flu-like symptoms
- Fever
- Nausea and vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Headaches
- Tiredness and exhaustion
- Pain in the right upper abdomen
- Icterus (yellowing of the skin and the white conjunctiva of the eyes)
- Bright, colorless chair
- Dark urine
Acute hepatitis E infection can cause flu-like symptoms.
Those affected complain of a strong feeling of illness, headaches, aching limbs and nausea. Fever attacks with temperatures up to 40 degrees can also occur. The inflamed liver often causes no pain, so an infection with hepatitis E may go undetected and be mistaken for flu.
If, in addition to the flu-like symptoms, other signs such as yellowing of the skin, colorless bowel movements, dark urine or dull pain in the right upper abdomen occur, this indicates an inflammation of the liver. In such cases a doctor should be consulted. The liver is a very large organ located in the right upper abdomen.
An infection with the hepatitis E virus leads to an inflammation of the liver, causing pain in the right upper abdomen. The liver itself is not innervated by nerves that cause pain and therefore does not hurt directly. However, the organ is embedded in a cover of connective tissue, the so-called liver capsule.
The inflamed liver swells and presses against the capsule, causing a dull pain under pressure. Pain in the right upper abdomen is a common symptom of liver inflammation. The liver has important detoxification and transformation functions in the human body and excretes waste products from metabolism, toxins and medication through the bile.
In addition, the bile pigment bilirubin is produced in the liver and is released and excreted into the intestines via the bile. In the intestine, bilirubin is converted by bacteria and thus gives the stool its characteristic brown color. An infection with hepatitis E causes the liver to become inflamed and its function to be restricted, which means that not enough bilirubin can be released into the bile.
As a result, the stool loses its brown color and becomes gray or colorless. As a result of the infection with hepatitis E, the inflamed liver can no longer excrete the bile pigment bilirubin in sufficient quantities through the bile fluid, which causes bilirubin to accumulate in the blood. In some cases, the enriched bilirubin can be excreted via the kidneys, staining the urine dark.
A dark discoloration of the urine can therefore be a sign of hepatitis E disease. In hepatitis E disease, the inflamed liver can no longer function properly and no longer produces sufficient bile. Bile stasis causes digestive problems such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
These symptoms are common side effects of hepatitis E infection. Patients who have become infected with the hepatitis E virus often experience fever and flu-like symptoms. The body’s immune system reacts to the pathogens and produces specific antibodies that can trigger fever to fight the infection.
Fever above 39 degrees, sweating and chills are therefore often early symptoms of an acute hepatitis E infection. Hepatitis E can also lead to the development of jaundice (icterus). As a result of the inflammation, the liver is no longer able to release the yellow bile pigment bilirubin into the bile fluid and thus excrete it from the body via the bowel movements. Bilirubin eventually accumulates in the body and leads to yellowing of the skin and sclera (the white connective tissue of the eyeballs). Jaundice is a clear symptom of damage to the liver and therefore a doctor should be consulted immediately if this symptom occurs.
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