Posted on 06/23/2018 1:29:14 AM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK
Since late summer 2016, hepatitis A has had an increased presence across the United States.
While San Diego’s hepatitis A outbreak caused headlines in 2017, the disease isn’t just contained to Southern California. So far in 2018, seven states reported cases of the food and water-borne disease. Among those states, Utah, Michigan and Kentucky reported the most cases.
Hepatitis A is a virus that attacks the liver and causes jaundice. Once infected, the disease can cause nausea, vomiting, fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, and abdominal pain. It is extremely contagious and usually spread through unsanitary food and water. On rare occasions, hepatitis A can spread by sharing needles with an infected individual.
Spread through person-to-person contact, the disease is a common worry in the food industry. Hepatitis A can simply spread if a food-handler doesn’t wash their hands after using the bathroom.
Researchers speculate that the infection began in California, then spread to Colorado, as well as Utah. In Colorado, there are approximately 35-40 people who are sick with the disease. One of those cases was confirmed by the Colorado Disease Control office to have originated from the outbreak in San Diego, California.
The situation seems to be far more serious in Utah.
Officials in Utah reported about 2,000 individuals sick with the disease. The outbreak appears to come from an influx of homeless people coming from California.
One source of the outbreak cam from an infected 7-Eleven employee. A customer interacted with the employee while shopping at the convenience store. The worker had recently returned from California. The store worker had been in California recently. It is not mandatory in Utah for food handlers to get the vaccine, but now are encouraged to do so.
Similar food handling mistakes appear to be behind cases in Kentucky and Indiana.
According to the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness, over 300 cases of hepatitis A have been reported in Kentucky. One person who works at Kroger has the illness. The giant food chain relayed risk of the disease to all shoppers. Per USA Today, over 5,700 citizens who reside in Louisville have been vaccinated.
According to The Indiana State Department of Health, the state is home to 40 cases of the disease. These cases are tied directly to the outbreak in nearby Kentucky.
Unfortunately, Michigan has experienced one of the most significant outbreaks in years. Officials report over 650 people who are sick with Hepatitis A, second to the outbreak in California.
A lack of vaccines may be a cause of this epidemic. Manufacturers report a lack of immunizations to ttreat the state’s needs. Merck and GlaxoSmithKline are the two manufacturers of this vaccine. The two are currently trying to catch up on the pre-filled syringes that they send to the state.
According to the CDC, the organization’s Division of Viral Hepatitis has been assisting the affected states since March of last year. In August 2017, the organization warned health departments across the country about the increased cases. They emphasized the greater risk for the disease in the homeless population. The CDC has confirmed over a thousand cases from samples that the states have submitted for testing. They also provided additional vaccines to states that have the highest at-risk populations.
The CDC and the affected states are working together to prevent further outbreaks.
The source of the outbreaks in San Diego appears to be the homeless population, along with those who share needles and have unsanitary personal hygiene habits. Even as the disease spreads across the country, this continues to be the source of these hepatitis A cases. The CDC and state agencies are hopeful the this is the beginning of the end and vaccines will be available to those who need it the most.
It’s not the lack of vaccines.....good mercy!
It’s the lack of hygiene, basic hygiene........
......perhaps in large part to illegals handling our food
We don’t need a vaccine for every frippin thing......we need common sense!
And ‘homeless people from california’ is just a euphemism for illegal immigrants from south of the border.
JoMa
don’t hold your breath waiting for common sense to come into fashion again...
I test positive for Hep C or B I forget which as well as TB. I lived in the PRC for 17 years so I am well acquainted with hygiene issues in restaurants
More gaslighting with floods of extraneous information from the left coast. Hepatitis A is spread by infected people who serve raw foods and don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom.
Numbers of outbreaks from restaurants during the ‘90s became noticeable, even in white, American neighborhoods in small cities of the middle of the U.S.A. The outbreaks originated with promiscuous, “recreational” drug users who worked in those restaurants (people with typically poor hygiene).
During the 1970s and before, high schools were showing films to P.E. students about how Hepatitis A could be contracted in foreign restaurants of countries with major dope and prostitution problems. Public schools haven’t seen that kind of education for a very long time.
I see that Utah was mentioned in the article.
Utah ranks 4th highest in nation for drug overdose deaths
https://www.good4utah.com/news/utah-ranks-4th-highest-in-nation-for-drug-overdose-deaths/442143416
Utah ranks 4th in overdose deaths
https://www.good4utah.com/news/local-utah-state-news-/utah-ranks-4th-in-overdose-deaths/204308647
Gov. Moonbeam’s legacy. I heard someone on the radio say that they were dumbstruck after having returned to visit California after several years to see the number of homeless people. No longer are their numbers confined to certain areas, but now it seems to be statewide.
The leftists want the same. Their merits list includes: no skills, no education, no desire to learn English, child molestation, rape, criminal background preferably including robbery, murder by knives and guns, skilled at using and selling drugs, lack of hygiene, have one or more infectious diseases.
Fecal - oral transmission. Think about it next time you eat in a restaurant.
It is always best to prevent and protect using available vaccines.
Hepatitis A is a vaccine-preventable, communicable disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). It is usually transmitted person-to-person through the fecal-oral route or consumption of contaminated food or water. Hepatitis A is a self-limited disease that does not result in chronic infection. Most adults with hepatitis A have symptoms, including fatigue, low appetite, stomach pain, nausea, and jaundice, that usually resolve within 2 months of infection; most children less than 6 years of age do not have symptoms or have an unrecognized infection. Antibodies produced in response to hepatitis A infection last for life and protect against reinfection. The best way to prevent hepatitis A infection is to get vaccinated.
Yet another gift of “immigration” - culturally - many Hispanics (who often work in food service) just don’t wash there hands regularly - even when handling food.
I’ve been in many restaurants over the years, and in the restroom and witnessed employees come in - use the bathroom, then walk right out (or simply run a little water over their hands). I use to find management and say something - and more often than not, they would just brush it off. I just don’t go to any restaurant I witness this at.
And yes - any employee might do this - but I have observed a FAR higher proportion of Hispanics fail to wash their hands.
don’t hold your breath waiting for common sense to come into fashion again...
It is time to realize that “IDIOCRACY” was a satirical documentary on modern life and it only gets worse. Satire is no longer possible because reality is crazier than anyone could ever have imagined a few years ago.
Why does Hep A only pick rare occasions to be spread by IV drug users? Maybe folks only use IV drugs on special occasions?
Wiki says its transmitted through fecal-oral route, so think about that the next time your waiter pegs your gaydar!
Same here. Saw a restaurant worker(Pakistani I’m guessing) come out of a stall at an upscale motel we were eating at once. He didn’t even stop by the sink. He just walked out the door, down the hall and into the kitchen area. I immediately informed the manager who said he would take care of it. Don’t know what happened, but we never ate there again and I warned others
“”And ‘homeless people from california’ is just a euphemism for illegal immigrants from south of the border.””
Years ago and I’ve forgotten what politician it was - from CA, I believe - that there weren’t any illegals in her state; they had just lost their way traveling through.
left out “said”” - politician SAID that there weren’t any illegals in her state....
No where in the article does it state citizenship status or country of origin for these convenient store and food handlers.
After almost 25 years in the food industry I can tell you that lack of sanitary, shall we say awareness and proper practices, crosses all lines, ethnic, legal and economic.
Think, how many times have been to a restroom and one or more of the other occupants leaves without washing their hands? How many of your coworkers? Do you use a paper towel to turn off the water or handle the door after you wash? If not I guarantee your hands are not clean. Do you use one of the wipes stores now provide to clean you shopping cart handle? If not your hands are not clean. How many times after these situations are you wiping at your face or mouth, eating food?
Not all the listeria, salmonella or E-Coli outbreaks are associated with illegal employees or for that matter Hispanics.
Infectious Disease Ping- Hepatitis A spreading across U.S.
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