Patrons Need Hepatitis Shots

A waitress at a Mexican restaurant who has hepatitis is causing health concerns on both sides of the Idaho-Washington border.

The woman suffers from hepatitis A and works at the Las Chavelas restaurants in both Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane Valley.

People who ate at Las Chavelas, 13817 E. Sprague, on Sept. 23 may have been exposed to hepatitis A, health officials said Monday.

People eating or drinking at the restaurant - even water - on that date need to contact their doctor or the Spokane County Health District for inoculation against the disease.

Treatment with immune globulin must be within 14 days of exposure. People exposed on Sept. 23 should be inoculated on or before Friday. The restaurant will pay for the injections.

The same waitress works at Las Chavelas on Sunset Avenue in Coeur d’Alene. People who ate there on Sept. 18, 19, 20 or 22 also may have been exposed to the virus.

Idaho’s Panhandle Health District offered people in Coeur d’Alene who may have been exposed free injections of immune globulin Monday.

Hepatitis A is a viral infection most often spread by eating contaminated food.

After a two- to six-week incubation period, people who are infected experience symptoms such as joint and muscle aches, cramps, loss of appetite, fever, nausea and diarrhea. , DataTimes