For Research Use Only

 

Summary:

The hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a single-stranded RNA-containing virus without an envelope and with a diameter of 27 nm that belongs to the family of Picornaviridae. Hepatitis A - the most common form of acute viral hepatitis - is an infection of fecal-oral transmission produced in humans after an average incubation period of 28 days (range, 15-50 days). The illness caused by HAV infection typically has an abrupt onset of symptoms that can include fever, malaise, anorexia, nausea, abdominal discomfort, dark urine, and jaundice.

Total anti-HAV and especially IgM anti-HAV is positive at the onset of a hepatitis A infection. After natural infection, anti-HAV-IgG antibodies can usually be detected for a lifetime providing protection against the disease. The detection of anti-HAV is indicative of current immunity and helps in deciding whether active immunization should be supplied by vaccination or immunoglobulins should be administered for post-exposure prophylaxis in at-risk situations.

Anti-HAV IgG & IgM Qualitative Elisa is a fast test for the qualitative detection of antibodies to Hepatitis A virus in serum or plasma (heparin, citrate or EDTA) specimens. This is an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) which utilizes HAV Ag on microtiter wells and human Peroxidase-conjugated Anti-HAV in a competition principle to detect Anti-HAV levels in serum or plasma.