Hepatitis A Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Hepatitis A Blog

Hepatitis A is one of five human hepatitis viruses that primarily infect the human liver and cause human illness. (There are many other viruses that can inflame the liver which infect us more generally.) The other known human hepatitis viruses are hepatitis B, C, D, and E. Hepatitis A is relatively unusual in nations with developed sanitation systems such as the United States. Nevertheless, it continues to occur here.

Each year, an estimated 100 persons die as a result of acute liver failure in the United States due to Hepatitis A. Approximately 30 - 50,000 cases occur yearly in the United States and the direct and indirect costs of these cases exceed $300 million. The unfortunate aspect of these statistics is that with 21st century medicine, Hepatitis A is totally preventable, and isolated cases, and especially outbreaks relegated to food consumption, need not occur.

Viral Hepatitis is a major public health concern in the United States, and a source of significant morbidity and mortality. The Hepatitis A virus or "HAV" is heat stable and will survive for up to a month at ambient temperatures in the environment.

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2/22/2005
Sean Carroll
Elmira, NY

A lawsuit has been filed against the Chemung County Health Department. The suit claims the health department failed to act immediately when it learned about a reported case of Hepatitis A. Three men who say they caught Hepatitis A after eating at the Maple Lawn Family Restaurant in the Town of Ashland between October 10th and mid-November.

The civil lawsuit filed in Chemung County Court in December claims the health department was negligent and that that caused Stephen Glidden, Donald Rockwell, and James Russ to contract the virus. Jim Reed is the attorney for the three men and says that at this time Maple Lawn is not being sued by his clients.

The suit gives no dollar-amount for damages, simply leaving that up to a court's ruling. The County Health Department is not allowed to comment on the lawsuit, but a spokesman says a total of 13 people contracted Hepatitis A after eating at the Maple Lawn Family Restaurant last year. One worker at the restaurant was diagnosed with the disease. The restaurant did pass a total of 7 health inspections conducted since mid-October, the most recent coming on February 3rd, 2005.

Maple Lawn General Manager Jamie Brand-Fortier says she notified the health department as soon as she learned her worker had Hepatitis A. Brand-Fortier says the health department acted immediately once she told them.

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Ben Fidler
Feb-17-2005

Chi-Chiës Inc. has asked for the court's approval for a sixth round of settlement payments regarding the hepatitis A outbreak that helped cause its bankruptcy.

In a motion filed Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington, the Tex-Mex requests the ability to pay $1.2 million settle an additional 17 hepatitis claims.

Court approval is needed for claims exceeding $35,000, of which 56 have already been made.

Chi-Chi's has settled a total of 411 hepatitis related claims, stemming from an outbreak at one of its restaurants that the company has since blamed on tainted green onions imported from Mexico.

Objections are due Feb. 22, with a hearing on the company's request slated for March 8.

Chi-Chi's filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 8, 2003 at the Wilmington court.

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Informer
2/17/05
Health Watch
By Ann Almodovor, APRN

Hepatitis A is a very contagious and potentially deadly liver disease caused by a virus. Approximately 1.4 million people worldwide and 143,000 people in the U.S. become infected each year with Hepatitis A. In certain parts of the world, Hepatitis A is more common and a person is more likely to get the disease if traveling or living there.

Hepatitis A is sometimes called a travel disease because it is the most frequently-occurring, vaccine-preventable infection in travelers. Each year 24 million people from the United States visit areas where Hepatitis A is endemic. However, you don't have to leave the country in order to be exposed to the disease.

Outbreaks in the United States have been associated with contaminated food, infected food handlers and with day-care centers. Not long ago, there was an outbreak linked to consumption of green onions in a chain-restaurant in Pennsylvania that resulted in several deaths. The disease is spread primarily by fecal-oral transmission. This means it can be contracted by ingesting contaminated food, shellfish or water.

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February 17, 2005: Health Highlights

Many children at high risk of hepatitis A aren't being vaccinated for the disease as often as they receive other recommended shots, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports from its first-ever national analysis.

Hepatitis A vaccination rates for children aged 24 months to 35 months varied widely from 6.4 percent to 72.7 percent in areas where routine vaccination is recommended, the agency reported Thursday in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. These numbers were lower than overall rates for other recommended pediatric vaccines, the CDC said.

Vaccination rates were highest among ethnic populations that traditionally have been at risk of the liver disease, including Hispanics, American Indians, and Alaskan native children, the agency said. But more children should be inoculated if hepatitis A rates are to continue their recent decline, the CDC said.

Good personal hygiene and proper sanitation can help prevent hepatitis A, which is normally transmitted via contact with contaminated feces, the agency said. Signs of the disease include jaundice, abdominal pain, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, and diarrhea.

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February 15, 2005
American Society for Microbiology

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Food in the preharvest stage is more vulnerable to contamination than food in the processing and packaging stages of production, because of environmental variability and our inability to control it, according to a new report released by the American Academy of Microbiology. The report, "Preharvest Food Safety and Security," points out that recent outbreaks of a number of foodborne illnesses have been linked to contamination occurring in the preharvest stage of food processing. The report recommends creating an accessible international database of genetic sequences for known foodborne pathogens along with new and improved tools for detecting and cataloging pathogens on the farm.

The report is based on the findings of a colloquium convened by the AAM in Perthshire, Scotland, in December 2003. Scientific professionals with expertise in veterinary medicine, agriculture, plant science, food safety, and microbiology met to discuss current practices in preharvest food safety, problems posed by pathogens on the farm, research needs in the field, and communication and education priorities.

"No matter how meticulously food is handled, prepared, or cooked, pathogens acquired during preharvest cannot always be inactivated," according to Colloquium co-chair, Richard E. Isaacson, PhD, of the University of Minnesota. Many foods have a higher risk because they are consumed raw, as was the case recently in Pennsylvania where 650 fell ill and three died from an outbreak of hepatitis A from contaminated green onions that originated in Mexico.

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Friday, February 11, 2005
By Ann Pierceall
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

KAHOKA, Mo. -- A grant for more than $200,000 will help the Clark County Health Department and Home Health Agency vaccinate hundreds of children against pneumonia, hepatitis A and influenza.

The three-year grant will support a County Health Department project called "Childhood Immunization Program Enhancement."

Health Department administrator Janet Ramsey said travel distance and costs often stop people from getting all recommended vaccines. The three vaccines are not covered under the state's Vaccines for Children program, which provides free childhood immunizations for polio, mumps, chicken pox and tetanus.

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Secure Web-system will help direct state response to biological attacks, reports of emerging infectious diseases

February 9, 2005 -- SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich today announced that hospitals, doctors and other health care providers now can electronically report infectious diseases to the state and local health departments as part of a continuing effort to improve the state's ability to respond to public health emergencies.

"We are committed to strengthening the capacity of our public health system to meet health threats," the Governor said. "The roll out of this electronic disease reporting system to private health care providers enhances the state's ability to quickly identify health problems and direct the appropriate response."

The inclusion of hospitals and other health care providers in the Illinois-National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (I-NEDSS) began this month. The system was initially launched in March 2004 so the state's 95 local health departments could be efficiently and securely linked through a Web-based computer connection to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Future applications will allow laboratories and others to utilize I-NEDSS.

Chicago also is developing an electronic reporting system with its share of federal bioterrorism funds for the city's hospitals and health care providers that is not yet ready to go on-line. When Chicago's system is in place, it will be designed to share data with the state's I-NEDSS.

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The Tallahoma News
By Belinda Riddle, UT Extension
February 08, 2005

We've all read or heard about safe preparation of meats to avoid food poisoning, particularly ground beef, pork and poultry. According to Ann Draughon, co-director of the University of Tennessee Food Safety Center of Excellence, we should be as careful when preparing fresh fruits and vegetables.
"Most people associate food-borne illness with improperly cooked foods of animal origin, but the fact is, the number of people getting sick from eating fruits and vegetables contaminated with pathogens has doubled since 1990," says Draughon.

According to the congressional General Accounting Office, an estimated 20 to 25 percent of annual food illness cases are caused by vegetables and fruits. Meat, poultry, pork and eggs still cause about 40 to 45 percent of illnesses. Seafood and cheeses also account for a large percentage of food-borne illnesses.

What is food-borne illness? It is caused by consuming foods or beverages contaminated with disease-causing microbes, called pathogens. Pathogens are poisonous chemicals or other harmful substances that can cause illness if they are present in food and consumed.

Pathogens are varied, and those found in fruits and vegetables have included Escherichia coli 0157:H7 in apple juice, Salmonella on vegetables, and Cyclospora and hepatitis A virus on produce.

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CHRISTINE V. SULAT

Four people in Chemung County have come down with hepatitis A, one a food worker at Maple Lawn Dairy in Ashland and three people who had eaten there.

County Health Department officials are warning people who ate at the restaurant between Sept. 26 and Oct. 10 that they may have been exposed to the virus.

Symptoms include fatigue, fever, poor appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine and yellowing of the skin and eyes.

Anyone showing those symptoms and who may have had contact with someone who has hepatitis A is urged to see their doctor or go to an emergency room for a blood test. If the test results show hepatitis A, the Health Department will be notified, said Robert E. Page, county public health director.

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Lee Bacalles
WENY TV

If you ate at Elmira's Maple Lawn Dairy Family Restaurant between September 26th and October 10th, you may want to schedule an appointment with your doctor.

That's the advice from the Chemung County Health Department. Officials there say a restaurant employee is diagnosed with Hepatitis A. The county's Environmental Health Director says the worker was removed promptly after the discovery, but at least three additional cases have been identified within the last three days.

Tom kump says Hepatitis A is generally a mild illness that affects the liver with an average incubation period of 28-days. Symptoms include fatigue, fever, poor appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine, and yellowing of the skin and eyes. Kump says recent health inspections at maple lawn dairy showed no further threat for the illness or anything similar.

Once again, the date range you need to keep in mind if you ate at Maple Lawn Dairy Family Restaurant is September 26th to October 10th.

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The Leader Staff

ELMIRA | Patrons could be at risk from a food worker at Maple Lawn Dairy Family Restaurant who was recently diagnosed with Hepatitis A.

Anyone who ate at the restaurant, located on Maple Avenue in Elmira, between Sept. 26 and Oct. 10 may have been exposed, the Chemung County Department of Health announced Saturday.

The Heath Department is advising a trip to the doctor for anyone who ate at the restaurant between those dates that is experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, fever, poor appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine or yellowing of skin and eyes.

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L.I. hall leaves prepaid partyers in lurch
BY LAURA WILLIAMS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
1/31/2005

It was Villa Leone's intimate atmosphere that sold her.
"There was just room for one wedding at a time," Rita Padula, 27, said of the New Hyde Park restaurant and catering hall. "It's your special day. You don't want to see other brides."

Padula, a nursing home social director, knew the food and service were good because she'd eaten dinner there so often, and the owners always made a big fuss over her. So she forked over the $3,000 deposit for her reception, planned for November.

But she couldn't have predicted that Villa Leone would suddenly shut its doors without warning this month - and keep every cent of her deposit.

"We never even received a phone call," Padula said. "I was there for dinner a day before they closed. They didn't say a word. I feel stepped on. Totally stepped on."

Padula and her fiancÈ weren't the only ones left in the lurch. Numerous parties planned for weddings, birthdays, communions and other events are in limbo.

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