List of Acute Viral Hepatitis Symptoms

Here is a list of symptoms associated with acute viral hepatitis. Because they are broad and varied, it is helpful to view these symptoms as happening in stages. Many doctors organize them into three groups or stages: beginning, later and recovery.

The symptoms of acute viral hepatitis are often the same regardless of the virus that causes it. This means that diagnosis of a particular kind of viral hepatitis can't be made from the symptoms alone.

For this, you need a physician and laboratory blood tests.

Initial Acute Viral Hepatitis Symptoms

General malaise (a vague symptom where you feel uncomfortable and a little tired)
Myalgia (muscle pain)
Arthralgia (joint pain)
Fatigue (extreme tiredness)
Headache
Anorexia (having no appetite)
Changes in your normal sense of smell and taste accompany anorexia (For example, smokers sometimes develop a temporary distaste for smoking)
Unusual sensitivity to bright light (photophobia)
Nausea and vomiting (these are very common symptoms)
Diarrhea (less common)
Constipation (less common)
Fever (usually low-grade and most common in hepatitis A and E)
Upper-right abdominal pain (pain in the upper belly on the right side, usually mild and constant)

Later Acute Viral Hepatitis Symptoms

Jaundice
Dark-colored urine
Light-colored stools

Fulminant Hepatitis Symptoms

A small number of people with acute viral hepatitis (caused by any of the hepatotropic viruses) will develop fulminant hepatitis.

This is most common for hepatitis B and is possible with hepatitis C, but rarely happens. For fulminant hepatitis, the symptoms are different and life-threatening:

Encephalopathy
Confusion
Disorientation
Ascites
Edema
Bleeding

To learn more about hepatitis and the viruses that can cause it, please follow the links below:

_Sources:

_{Berenguer M, Wright TL. Hepatitis C. In: M Feldman, LS Friedman, LJ Brandt (eds), Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, 8e. Philadelphia, Elsevier, 2006. 1688-1689.}

_{Dienstag JL. Acute Viral Hepatitis. In: AS Fauci, E Braunwald, DL Kasper, SL Hauser, DL Longo, JL Jameson, J Loscaizo (eds), Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, 17e. New York, McGraw-Hill, 2008. 1941-1942.}

_{Friedman LS. Liver, Biliary Tract, & Pancreas. In: LM Tierney, SJ McPhee, MA Papadakis (eds), Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment, 46e. New York, McGraw-Hill, 2007.}

_{Perrillo R, Nair, S. Hepatitis B and D. In: M Feldman, LS Friedman, LJ Brandt (eds), Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, 8e. Philadelphia, Elsevier, 2006. 1654-1655.}

_{Sjogren MH. Hepatitis A. In: M Feldman, LS Friedman, LJ Brandt (eds), Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, 8e. Philadelphia, Elsevier, 2006. 1641-1642.}