Lack Of Immune Globulin Confronts Hepatitis A Alert 10,000 Ate At Valley Restaurant Where Infected Person Worked

County health officials said about 10,000 people ate at the Players and Spectators restaurant in the Spokane Valley during the two weeks an employee prepared drinks and garnishes while infected with hepatitis A.

Health officials are bracing for an immune globulin demand rivaling one 10 years ago when a worker at a Spokane Black Angus restaurant was exposed to hepatitis A.

But this time, the Spokane Regional Health District has about half as much medicine because of a nationwide immune globulin shortage.

About 5,000 of those customers exposed at Players and Spectators couldn’t have been helped by immune globulin, even if the county had an unlimited supply, said Dr. Kim Thorburn, district health officer.

Shots must be received within 14 days of exposure to provide protection from the liver disease. By the time the health district learned about the restaurant worker’s infection, too many days had passed.

The exposure period ran from Dec. 22 to Jan. 5.

The remaining 5,000 or so customers from Players and Spectators will have to compete for the 1,380 available doses of immune globulin. Shots will be available on a first-come first serve basis today at the Health District Clinic.

Since the health district issued its hepatitis alert Sunday, customers have deluged Players and Spectators with calls and questions, restaurant manager Scott Letsch said.

“I’ve got a team of four people that have been camped on these phones 15 hours a day for the last two days,” Letsch said Tuesday.

Owner H.T. Higgins, who spent $2 million to remodel the restaurant last year, held a press conference Wednesday to answer questions. He said the restaurant will pay for all the immune globulin shots.

Thorburn is preparing for long lines of shot-seekers today. The Health District Clinic depleted its 480-dose stock within hours Monday and had to start turning people away. It will open at 8 a.m. today with an additional 570 doses.

Health officials hadn’t realized how many people ate at the popular Valley restaurant during the busy holiday season, Thorburn said. They thought the 480 doses would last a week or more.

Recent restaurant exposures involving hepatitis A have brought only a couple hundred requests for immune globulin, she said.

The current case could bring thousands.

Ten years ago, 3,000 of the 5,000 Black Angus customers potentially exposed to the liver disease received globulin shots to prevent it. A current nationwide shortage of immune globulin forced health officials this week to search all over the state for additional doses. The last supply will arrive later this week, and bring the total available doses to 1,380.

The infected food worker at Players and Spectators was a woman who has worked at the restaurant about six months, restaurant officials said. She told health officials she had washed her hands well, which if true should prevent the spread of the disease to customers, Thorburn said.

Still, health officials were concerned because the worker was involved in a high-risk activity - handling the ice and garnishes that go into customers’ drinks.

“How much risk is there? We can’t know,” Thorburn said.

No Players and Spectators patrons have tested positive for the virus. Most cases of hepatitis A are transmitted in households, not restaurants, Thorburn said.

Those unable to get a shot should watch for signs of yellowing of the skin or eyes, diarrhea, nausea, fatigue and loss of appetite. Although the disease is rarely fatal, anyone who suspects they have it should see a doctor, Thorburn said.

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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CLINIC HOURS The Health District Clinic at 1101 W. College will be open from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today.