Hepatitis A outbreak in 26 US states
More people are traveling now than they have in the past year during the pandemic. While COVID-19 may be a concern, we want to make sure you know there is a Hepatitis A outbreak in half of the states.
Hepatitis A is a viral liver disease that can cause everything from mild to severe illness.
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"We have 26 states right now that are having active Hepatitis A outbreaks. The reason is that this is a highly contagious virus that spreads from person to person. People can be without symptoms and spread it, and that's why we have these outbreaks. We have to be very concerned about this, because people are starting to travel again here in the United States," says Dr. Leonard Friedland, who is a Pediatrician as well as the Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Public Health for vaccines at GSK.
Luckily, the outbreak is not in Texas. Dr. Friedland just wants you to know about this in case you have travel plans, as the outbreak is expected to last well into the summer months.
Unfortunately, a mask doesn't help protect from this particular disease.
"The uptick lasts quite a while. States that have outbreaks, the upticks go on for quite a long period of time. Hepatitis A is spread from person to person from food, for example. It's actually a fecal - oral transmission, it's sanitation. So in the food processing area, you can have a food handler who's infected and doesn't know it, you can have it in the process of preparing the food, freezing the food, etc, and, and when we see an outbreak, it can be very difficult for to get under control," explains Dr. Friedland.
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There are some signs and symptoms to look out for.
"It's a very disturbing disease, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches, yellow color of the skin, yellow color of the eyes. The dehydration can get so bad that 60% of people will be hospitalized from hepatitis A. That's a very large number 60% hospitalized, and we see deaths from this as well," states Dr. Friedland.
Most of the time, it just takes time to recover from Hepatitis A, which can last a month or two. It is usually treated with fluids for hydration.
Dr. Friedland believes prevention is the key to dealing with this infection.
"There are two widely available safe and effective Hepatitis A vaccines, where the CDC recommends that all adults who wish to be vaccinated can be vaccinated. Yet only 15% of adults in the United States have received one of the two doses of the Hepatitis A vaccine. With full completion, or two doses, only 9% have received the full completion. So there's a lot of people unprotected against Hepatitis A in the U.S.," says Dr. Friedland.
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While COVID-19 vaccines seem to be on many minds these days, vaccination is the last thing a lot of people have been thinking about lately for other conditions.
"During the pandemic, vaccination rates have dropped dramatically for people of all ages, especially adults here in the United States," says Dr. Friedland.
There is also a vaccine against Hepatitis B but not Hepatitis C.
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