National case definition: Hepatitis A
Date of last revision: May 2008
Date of last review: May 2008
National notification
Only confirmed cases of disease should be notified.
Type of surveillance
Routine case-by-case notification to the federal level.
Case classification
Confirmed case
Laboratory confirmation of infection in the absence of recent vaccination:
- detection of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV)
- and
- acute clinical illness (see Clinical evidence section)
- or
- an epidemiologic link to a person with laboratory-confirmed hepatitis A infection.
Probable case
Acute clinical illness in a person without laboratory confirmation of infection who is epidemiologically linked to a confirmed case
Laboratory comments
IgM positive results can be a true positive but reflect a remote infection, as HAV-IgM can remain detectable for years after an acute infection because of trailing IgM or the non-disappearance of anti-HAV IgM after recent infection. Acute/recent infection should be confirmed with clinical history symptoms and by repeat titre after 7 to 10 days.
Clinical evidence
Acute clinical illness is characterized by discrete onset of symptoms, including fever, malaise, anorexia, nausea and abdominal pain followed by jaundice or elevated aminotransferase levels within a few days.
ICD code(s)
- ICD-10 code(s)
- B15.0 Hepatitis A with hepatic coma
- B15.9 Hepatitis A without hepatic coma [Hepatitis A (acute) (viral) not otherwise specified (NOS)]
- ICD-9/ICD-9CM code(s)
- 070.0 Viral hepatitis A with hepatic coma
- 070.1 Viral hepatitis A without mention of hepatic coma
Comments
Probable case definitions are provided as guidelines to assist with case finding and public health management, and are not for national notification purposes.
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