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Source of
Article: http://www.foodpoisonjournal.com/
Hepatitis A is a communicable (or
contagious) disease. The virus is transmitted by the “fecal – oral route,”
(human feces gets into your mouth) generally from person-to-person, or via contaminated
food or water. Outbreaks, like the one at
the Milan, Illinois McDonalds, associated with food have been increasingly
implicated as a significant source of Hepatitis A infection. Such outbreaks
are usually associated with contamination of food during preparation by a
Hepatitis A-infected food handler. Food contaminated with the
virus is a common vehicle transmitting hepatitis A. The food preparer or cook
is the individual most often contaminating the food. He or she is generally
not ill: the peak time of infectivity (i.e., when the most virus is present
in the stool of an infectious individual) is during the 2 weeks before
illness begins to be noticeable. The incubation period (time
from exposure to onset of symptoms) is 15-50 days, with an average of 30
days. Thus far at least 25 people have contracted Hepatitis A and over
10,000 or more were exposed. 5,000 have received IG or Hepatitis A
vaccines to hopefully prevent illness onset. William Marler, food safety attorney from
Seattle, has filed suit on behalf of those who received vaccines and one
family whose 16 year old contracted Hepatitis A. As Marler said, "it appears the second Ill
McDonald’s employee last worked on July 13 or 14. That means that the number
of ill may well rise over the next month during the height of the incubation
period." The Rock Island County
Health Department will conduct walk-in clinics at its office at 2112 25th
Ave., Rock Island, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. These
additional dates are being made available for those who went to the Milan,
Ill., McDonald's on July 13 or 14. If they went there previous to these
dates, receiving either of these shots may be beyond the time period to
provide protection from potential exposure. A second dose of hepatitis
A vaccine, administered six months after the first one, will provide
additional effectiveness against the disease. Second doses will be available
at the health department, but they will not be free as the first-dose clinics
have been. The cost of the second dose will be $45 for adults and $15-$25 for
pediatric patients, depending upon income guidelines. |
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