ACUTE HEPATITIS A CASE
DEFINITION FOR SURVEILLANCE
u 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
u Laboratory criteria
• IgM antibody to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) positive
u 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).