AcuteEdit
Initial symptoms are non-specific and flu-like, common to almost all acute viral infections, and may include malaise, muscle and joint aches, fever, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, and headache. More specific symptoms, which can be present in acute hepatitis from any cause, are profound loss of appetite, aversion to smoking among smokers, choluria (dark urine), jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin), and abdominal discomfort. Physical findings are usually minimal, apart from jaundice, tender enlargement of the liver, enlarged lymph nodes in 5%, and enlargement of the spleen. Acute viral hepatitis is more likely to be asymptomatic in children. Symptomatic individuals may present after a convalescent stage of 7 to 10 days, with the total illness lasting weeks.[3]
A small proportion of people with acute hepatitis progress to acute liver failure, in which the liver is unable to remove harmful substances from the blood (leading to confusion and coma due to hepatic encephalopathy) and produce blood proteins (leading to peripheral edema and bleeding).