Countywide : Hepatitis A Outbreak Seems Under Control

A recent outbreak of hepatitis A that infected 50 people, primarily the developmentally disabled, now seems under control, a county epidemiologist said Wednesday.

Dr. Hildy Meyers, the county’s medical director of disease control, said the greatest number of new hepatitis cases were reported in March and April.

Meyers said it appears the efforts of county health workers to contain the outbreak have succeeded because the last confirmed case was diagnosed May 22.

“We probably will wait two incubation periods before deciding it [the outbreak] is over,” she said, noting that hepatitis has an incubation period of a month.

Meyers said the first case was identified in mid-January and then the disease spread rapidly among the county’s developmentally disabled residents, who tend to have close social ties.

The hepatitis victims, she said, included 42 developmentally disabled people and three staff members who work with them. The ages of those infected ranged from 15 to 52.

Meyers said hepatitis A, a virus affecting the liver, is spread by fecal contamination of food or hand-to-mouth contact and historically has been contracted most commonly by Americans who travel overseas. Symptoms may include fatigue, a mild fever, nausea, vomiting, dark-colored urine and yellow eyes or skin.

She said county health workers have tried to identify people exposed to the disease in time to give an injection of immune globulin to prevent sickness.

Because the preventive treatment is effective only within the 14 days of exposure, Meyers said, it is important to identify contagious people early and find their contacts.

Under the California Health and Safety Code, doctors are required to report hepatitis A to public health officials within one working day after the disease is diagnosed, but some have failed to do so, Meyers said. She said the state Medical Board is planning to adopt a procedure to cite and fine doctors who fail to report cases.

“We need a mechanism for putting teeth into these regulations,” said Dr. Hugh Stallworth, the county’s director of public health.