Journal of the Korean Society of Neonatology  2010;17(1):123-126

Symptomatic Hepatitis A Virus Infection in a Newborn.

Jang Yong JIN 1 ; Ye Seul HONG ; Woo Ryoung LEE

Affiliations

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Keywords

Hepatitis A virus; Newborn; Korea

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is a common cause of acute hepatitis, but is rarely responsible for neonatal hepatitis. HAV infection is usually transmitted by the fecal-oral route, but during the neonatal period can be transmitted by the intrauterine vertical route or postnatal horizontal route. HAV infection is usually self-limited, but it can be potentially life-threatening in adults. The clinical course and symptoms are mild and the infection can be asymptomatic in newborns. Recently, we experienced a case of symptomatic neonatal hepatitis A. To our knowledge, this is the first case of neonatal hepatitis with HAV infection in Korea.