Some Valentines May Wind Up Feeling Crummy Heart-Shaped Cookies Sold By Club Packaged By Worker With Hepatitis A Virus; Shot Suggested

Some good-hearted residents may have unknowingly given their sweethearts a case of hepatitis for Valentine’s Day.

Health officials here fear about two dozen heart-shaped cookies sold by a community group may have been contaminated with the hepatitis A virus.

“We had a worker who helped package about 25 cookies test positive for the virus,” said Panhandle Health District Nurse Brenda Swenson.

The Laclede Community Club made about 300 of the Valentine’s Day cookies and sold them as a fund-raiser.

Most of the cookies were sold by special order and had names written in frosting on the top. Swenson said the health district is still trying to notify people who ordered the cookies about the possible contamination.

“We don’t even know for sure the cookies are infected, but there is a very good chance,” Swenson said.

The virus is typically transmitted by people who use a restroom and do not wash their hands before handling food.

Since other cases of hepatitis A surfaced in Bonner County last month, the Health District has ordered all food handlers to wear plastic gloves.

“If the worker was wearing gloves we could have prevented this,” Swenson said.

Hepatitis A is less serious than Hepatitis B, the other strain of the virus. Hepatitis A can cause flu-like symptoms like vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea. Swenson said the virus and symptoms may not show up for a period of 30 to 50 days after a person becomes infected.

She urges anyone who bought and ate the Laclede Club cookies to come to the health district for a shot.

“It won’t keep you from getting sick but it will ease the severity of symptoms. With the shot, you may just feel nauseated for a few hours.”

The Health District will give immunizations today from 8 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m.