UPDATE 12/29/10 @ 7:30 p.m.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- With 11 cases of Hepatitis A confirmed in Cabell County, the Cabell-Huntington Health Department is closely monitoring the situation.
One bit of good news is that all of the cases are closely connected to a small community in the Milton area. The bad news is there's no guarantee things will stay that way.
Dr. Harry Tweel, director of the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, said it should alleviate fears that Hepatitis A is spread by direct contact -- not through the air or saliva.
Tweel says the spread of the disease is pretty straightforward -- from stool to mouth. That generally happens when people don't wash their hands after using the bathroom or handling a soiled diaper.
The cases are closely connected to the three infected fourth-graders at Milton Elementary School, but Tweel says they are not the source.
But, since the spread, the department has been proactive in trying to stop it from spreading further, including a vaccine clinic in the Barker's Ridge area of Milton where more than 100 folks notified by the health department showed up.
This is not something the general public needs to worry about since it only involves direct contact with an infected person. The confirmed cases have involved direct infection.
The vaccine is available at the Cabell-Huntington Health Department. Hepatitis A is the mildest of the hepatitis strains, but an infected person can be contagious up until two weeks before showing symptoms and then up to another 50 days after that.
The symptoms mimic the flu, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and yellow skin, and can be severe.
If you suspect you have Hepatitis A, call your doctor immediately.
The agency is referring to the cases as an "outbreak." In late November, the number of Hepatitis A cases was referred to as "sporadic."
A special clinic Tuesday at Chestnut Grove Fellowship Hall along Barkers Ridge Road helped educate and vaccinate people at risk. More than 100 people were vaccinated Tuesday.
Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by a virus which found in the stool of an infected person. The disease is spread from person to person by hands that have not been washed after going to the bathroom or touching items such as diapers or linens soiled by a bowel movement.
It can also be spread by water or ice and by eating uncooked foods that may have become contaminated during handling. Hepatitis A can also be spread through common household items such as unclean eating utensils.
Symptoms include:
If you think you have any of the above symptoms, please contact your doctor.
Hepatitis A is vaccine preventable disease. The hepatitis A vaccine is a two-dose shot and is available at the Health Department.
The Health Department calls the cluster of cases "sporadic."
Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by a virus which found in the stool of an infected person. The disease is spread from person to person by hands that have not been washed after going to the bathroom or touching items such as diapers or linens soiled by a bowel movement.
An alert issued earlier this month by the West Virginia Bureau of Public Health said several cases also were in Jackson and Wayne counties in October.
It can also be spread by water or ice and by eating uncooked foods that may have become contaminated during handling. Hepatitis A can also be spread through common household items such as unclean eating utensils.
Symptoms include:
If you think you have any of the above symptoms, please contact your doctor.
Hepatitis A is vaccine preventable disease. The hepatitis A vaccine is a two-dose shot and is available at the Health Department.
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