Hepatitis A is usually transmitted through contaminated food or water. Typically, hepatitis A has milder symptoms than hepatitis B or C. Illness from hepatitis A is usually brief, and infection with the virus does not lead to chronic liver disease or liver cancer.

Hepatitis B is usually transmitted through the blood of another person with hepatitis B. Symptoms of the disease may appear suddenly and severely and can include high fever, jaundice and abdominal pain. Untreated hepatitis B can lead to chronic liver disease or even liver cancer.

Hepatitis C is also passed on through contaminated blood and is similar to hepatitis B, but it is caused by a different type of virus. Infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the number-one reason for liver transplant in the U.S. Unlike hepatitis A and B, there is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C.