Hepatitis A

September 2007     View PDF     En español

Concerns for people living with HIV

People living with HIV are at no higher risk than others for getting HAV. However, they may face longer symptoms, illness and time to recover than HIV-negative people. This can be due to taking anti-HIV and other meds that the liver breaks down as well as other liver disease that they may have like hepatitis B or C. A serious case of HAV disease may force a person to stop their meds in order to recover from the hepatitis.

For these reasons, it’s recommended that people living with HIV get the HAV vaccine if they haven’t had hepatitis A. The vaccine is safe to use in people with HIV, and is best done when CD4+ cell counts are above 300. For more information on vaccines, read the section How do you prevent hepatitis A?