Hepatitis A Emergency On Hold Largest Number Of Cases In Years; People Getting Shots
An official health emergency for hepatitis A will not be declared in Spokane County, as long as people continue to cooperate with the Spokane Regional Health District.
Two weeks ago, Health Officer Dr. Kim Thorburn said she planned to declare a formal emergency requiring food service workers, intravenous drug users and even jail inmates to get vaccinated against hepatitis A. On Wednesday Thorburn said people are voluntarily getting vaccinated.
“As long as people are cooperating with getting the vaccine, I don’t feel it’s necessary to declare an emergency,” Thorburn said.
The health district is now focusing on the Spokane County Jail. An inmate recently assigned to kitchen service at the jail tested positive for hepatitis A on Sunday.
The district wants every inmate who ate or drank at breakfast inthe jail last Thursday, Saturday or Sunday to get a shot of immune globulin - even if they’ve been released from jail.
About 650 inmates and recent releases from the Spokane County Jail will need to get shots of immune globulin. The shots, which cost $19 to $30 a pop at the health district, will be covered by the county jail.
“Because he was really very ill, we decided it was important to go ahead with immune globulin,” Thorburn said.
Immune globulin prevents hepatitis A in people who have recently been exposed. It’s different from the vaccines being touted by the health district. The vaccine, which prevents the disease for at least 20 years, comes in two shots that cost $42 each.
Vaccinations are still being considered for jail inmates.
A meeting will be held at the health district at 2 p.m. Friday to discuss further plans for dealing with the hepatitis outbreak.
As of Wednesday, 139 people have been diagnosed with hepatitis A, compared with 20 at this time last year.
It’s the largest number of cases in years. Hepatitis A, which usually has a bumper crop every eight to 10 years, last had an outbreak in the state in 1989.
“Three new cases today,” said epidemiologist Bill Edstrom with a sigh. “That doesn’t count the few floaters on my desk.”
The Spokane Restaurant and Hospitality Association has been actively working with the health district, said president Stuart Ellison.
The restaurant association is sending out a mailing to everyone with a health permit in the county talking about hepatitis A. Only one restaurant worker, at the Sunset Junction, has caught hepatitis A. No cases of hepatitis A have yet been traced to a food handler at any county restaurant.
“There hasn’t been a transmission,” said Ellison, who manages the restaurant division of the Broadway Truck Stop in the Valley. “Eating in a restaurant is safe. We’re going to make sure we keep it that way.”
About 70 workers at the Broadway Truck Stop will get vaccinations Friday.
“I’m sure it’s gonna feel good,” Ellison said. “I volunteered to take the first shot, being the human guinea pig. They all said if I don’t fall over, they’ll take a shot.”
Edstrom stressed that people with an underlying liver infection or disease get vaccinated against both hepatitis A and B. The disease is most often passed on through contact or food preparation in a household.
Hepatitis A is spread by fecal-oral contact or by eating contaminated food. An infected person can spread the virus more than a week before feeling sick.
The virus is infectious from two weeks before symptoms begin until two weeks after. Symptoms include yellowing of the skin or eyes, fatigue, abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhea.
, DataTimes