New guidance published on management of hepatitis A infection

Public Health Scotland (PHS) have published guidance on the public health management of hepatitis A infection. 

It is available on the PHS website and can be accessed using this link: Guidance for the public health management of hepatitis A 

It was produced collaboratively by a multi-disciplinary Guidance Development Group who used Health protection guidance: method for guidance development. A full methods statement is available in the guidance. 

This guidance is for all professionals involved in the public health response to hepatitis A cases and outbreaks.   

Key messages about this guidance: 

  • It serves as a standalone guide for the public health management of hepatitis A in Scotland.
  • It is aligned with UKHSA advice on case and contact definitions for use by public health professionals, exclusion, hygiene measures, and eligibility for prophylaxis. 
  • A new laboratory and testing section has been developed to outline recommendations and pathways specific to Scotland. 
  • A new risk assessment tool has been included for assessing food handler contacts after 14 days of exposure.  
  • A new section providing advice on ‘blood, tissue and cell donation’ is available in the guidance (this is not featured in the UKHSA guidance). It provides advice on liaising with Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) when: 
    • Hepatitis A cases or contacts have recently donated blood, tissue or cells or hepatitis A outbreaks or clusters are suspected. 
    • Asymptomatic cases have been identified through SNBTS plasma for medicines universal screening programme. 
  • An Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) was undertaken to consider any unintended or differential impact arising from implementing the recommendations in the guidance and includes mitigations where negative impacts have been identified. 
  • A standardised national surveillance questionnaire for hepatitis A is currently under development to support the use of the guidance.