Hepatitis A

September 2007     View PDF     En español

Concerns for women, children and older adults

Having hepatitis A does not increase the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage or birth defects. Using IG to prevent HAV is safe for pregnant women who have been exposed to the virus.

It’s not known if the HAV vaccine is passed through breast milk. Since many drugs are passed this way, caution should be taken when giving the vaccine to nursing mothers. The vaccine is not currently given to children under 1 year of age. There is a somewhat higher rate of illness in people aged 50 years and over who get HAV. It is unknown if people over 65 years of age respond differently to the HAV vaccine than younger adults.

The HAV vaccine is probably safe to use in pregnant women, although it is listed as Pregnancy Category C. This means that the risk is possible but unknown. So, for a woman who is pregnant, the risk from taking the vaccine should be weighed against her risk from getting HAV.