Book a Hepatitis A Vaccination in London for Your Travels.

Hepatitis A Vaccination In London

Hepatitis A is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus. You catch hepatitis A by swallowing the virus in food or drink that contains it, or touching your mouth with your hands that have picked up the virus from touching infected poo.

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Price: £60 Per Dose

Recommendations For Travellers

To protect yourself from hepatitis A when travelling, you need to:

pay strict attention to your hand hygiene

practice safe food and water precautions

consider if you need to be vaccinated against Hepatitis A before you go

Vaccination

Vaccination against hepatitis A is recommended for:

all people travelling to countries where the risk of hepatitis A is high

certain people who are at higher risk of infection from their job or lifestyle, or have an increased chance of becoming severely ill with the infection, such as:

men who have sex with other men

people who inject illegal drugs

close contacts of someone with hepatitis A

people who may be exposed to hepatitis A through their job

Check the information on the specific country page you are travelling to. If you need a hepatitis A vaccine, this will be listed in the ‘vaccinations’ section.

Two doses of a hepatitis A containing vaccine are usually needed to develop long term protection against hepatitis A virus.

At the time of writing, there are several brands of hepatitis A vaccine available for adults in the UK:

AVAXIM®

Havrix Monodose®

VAQTA® Adult

The brands of hepatitis A vaccines currently available in the UK for children are:

AVAXIM Junior®

Havrix Junior Monodose®

VAQTA® Paediatric

Overview of the Disease

Hepatitis A is a highly contagious, short term liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus.

The virus is found in the blood and poo of people when they are infected. If infected poo enters water supplies, then people who are drinking, swimming or washing in that water will become infected. If you eat fruit and vegetables washed in this water, you will catch the infection.

If people with hepatitis A are unable to wash their hands after going to the toilet, they will transfer the virus to their hands and then to other objects or people that they touch. This can spread the infection.

Young children are at increased chance of catching hepatitis A during travel because they are more likely to put potentially contaminated objects and their unclean hands into their mouth.

Hepatitis A occurs worldwide, most often in countries where hygiene and sanitation is poor.

The Illness

There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A virus. You must see a doctor if you think you have the infection. Treatment is supportive.

To relieve symptoms, you should try to:

feeling tired and generally unwell

a mild temperature (fever)

loss of appetite, feeling or being sick

sore or upset tummy, diarrhoea

itchy rash

yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice)

For most people, symptoms usually clear up completely within a few days to weeks without causing any long term liver damage.

Rarely, some people might go on to develop more serious symptoms which can cause the liver to stop functioning properly (known as liver failure).

People who recover from hepatitis A illness will develop lifelong immunity meaning they cannot catch it again.

Treatment

There is no specific treatment for hepatitis A virus. You must see a doctor if you think you have the infection. Treatment is supportive.

To relieve symptoms, you should try to:

get plenty of rest

drink plenty of fluids to keep hydrated

talk to a pharmacist or GP for over the counter medications to relieve symptoms such as pain or itching