Hepatitis A is an infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus. Small children usually have no or mild symptoms. Older children and adults experience fever, a general feeling of unwell, nausea, loss of appetite and/or pain in the stomach area followed within a few days by jaundice. Hepatitis A is spread by consuming contaminated food or water, or close or sexual contact with an infected person. This disease is more common in countries with poor sanitation and overcrowding. For more information, see the health unit's fact sheet on hepatitis A.
Simcoe Muskoka
Ontario
Technical Notes
Simcoe Muskoka
The following graph shows the number of hepatitis A cases in Simcoe Muskoka between 2000 and 2021. There have been between zero and 20 hepatitis A cases in Simcoe Muskoka every year since 2000. In 2021, there was one new case of hepatitis A reported in Simcoe Muskoka.
The spike of cases in 2019 and 2020 were related to ongoing transmission as part of a cluster of cases initially identified in late 2019.
Ontario
The following graph shows the incidence rate of hepatitis A in Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario between 2000 and 2021. Both rates have remained low during this period. In 2021, the incidence rate for hepatitis A in Simcoe Muskoka was 0.16 cases per 100,000 population and Ontario’s incidence rate was 0.54 cases per 100,000 population.
More detailed data for Ontario and each health unit can be found on Public Health Ontario’s interactive Reportable Disease Trends in Ontario tool.
Technical Notes
There are many factors that influence how many cases are reported to the health unit, as explained on the Infectious Diseases page. It is unclear to what extent the global COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the reporting and spread of other infectious diseases – counts and rates of disease since 2020 should be interpreted with caution.
Provincial definitions classify cases as confirmed, probable or suspect based on clinical and/or laboratory diagnostic criteria. The provincial case definition for Hepatitis A changed in April 2009 to include a definition for probable cases whereas before there was no such classification. The definitions of confirmed and probable cases from 2009 onwards are comparable to confirmed cases before 2009.
Page last updated August 19, 2022