January 2006

January 21, 2006
The Vancouver Sun
Darah Hansen
VANCOUVER I Vancouver Coastal Health officials are warning that members of the public may have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus after a food handler at Foundation Eatery Lounge on Main Street became infected.
Restaurant patrons who ate humus, salad, sandwiches or raw vegetables at the
restaurant on Jan. 7, 8, 9 and 14 are most at risk of infection, Dr. Patricia
Daly said in a press release.
The infected employee has since taken sick leave and there is no current risk to
the public, Daly said.Continue Reading Restaurant patrons get hepatitis A warning

22 January 2006
By STAFF REPORTERS
The family that is believed to have sparked Christchurch’s hepatitis A outbreak say the disease and its aftermath have placed an enormous emotional strain on them.
They maintain they were open and honest about their contact with the highly infectious liver disease, and say they followed all advice from health officials.
The family, whom public health officials identified as the likely source of the outbreak that has struck 30 people so far, declined to comment extensively on their situation until yesterday.
They broke their silence to express their “utter dismay and disappointment” over coverage of the hepatitis A outbreak.Continue Reading Hep A reports upset family

Sat, Jan. 21, 2006
JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press
Fruit and vegetable growers are tracking products and training workers to ensure their fresh green beans, tomatoes and peaches are safe to eat, driven by demands from the grocery chains they supply and shoppers at their markets.
Big retailers such as Wal-Mart are encouraging growers to embrace new technology that allows them to more closely track produce with bar codes and scanners. Growers are using bilingual videos and posters to train seasonal workers on proper hygiene. Some small farms are treating the water they use to scrub veggies.
Throughout the food chain there’s more attention to food safety within the last five years because there’s more worry about how an outbreak of illness could cost growers and wholesale buyers millions of dollars.Continue Reading From field to fork, farm food safety a growing issue

January 20, 2006
Kamala Hayman
www.stuff.co.nz
Families and health officials are blaming each other for the rapid spread of hepatitis A through a Christchurch suburb.
The ABC Ferrymead Learning Centre is the hub of an outbreak of the highly infectious liver disease that has struck 30 people. More cases are expected.
Health officials have blamed inadequate handwashing for the outbreak as the illness can be spread only by contact with the faeces of infected people. Families have also been criticised for not following public-health advice.
But ABC families are demanding to know why infectious children were allowed to keep going to the centre.Continue Reading Fingers pointed over hepatitis outbreak

January 18, 2006
JAMA: Vol. 295 No. 3
To the Editor: In their study of hepatitis A immunization, Dr Dagan and colleagues1 described a remarkable decline in the rate of hepatitis A following a universal toddlers-only immunization program in Israel in 1999. In the same issue of JAMA, Dr Wasley and colleagues2 reported a reduction in the incidence of hepatitis A in the United States to historic lows after the implementation of childhood vaccination programs in several states. Both studies described a substantial reduction in hepatitis rates not only among children but also in adults. Wasley et al suggested that in the absence of transmission among children, transmission among some groups of adults (which is usually via the fecal-oral route, through close person-to-person contact, or by ingesting contaminated food or water3) may still be sustained.Continue Reading Declining incidence of hepatitis A

January 15, 2006
Accenture
Greensboro News Record
As of Sunday , the Alamance County Health Department had been notified of five confirmed cases of Hepatitis A in the county and six suspected cases.
The department has interviewed the families involved but has not yet identified a common source of infection. None of those infected worked

13 Jan 2006
The Canterbury Medical Officer of Health says it is possible the outbreak of Hepatitis A in Christchurch is not over.
Mel Brieseman says there have been 21 recent notifications of the disease, most involving adults.
Dr Brieseman says the ABC Childcare Centre in Ferrymead is a common feature, but a series of

January 13, 2006
New Zealand Press Association
Christchurch – An outbreak of highly infectious hepatitis A in Christchurch that has infected 21 people has been traced to a suburban children’s daycare centre.
Canterbury medical officer of health Mel Brieseman said today eight of the cases had a direct association with the ABC Learning Centre in Ferrymead.
Dr Brieseman said a series of other functions was involved in spreading the notifiable disease.
Hepatitis A affects the liver and is contracted either by contact with the faeces of an infected person, contamination of food or directly from person to person through poor hygiene.
He emphasised the association with the daycare centre did not mean that it was the cause of the outbreak that has had health officials in Christchurch worried.
Since 2001, only two or three cases have been notified each year.Continue Reading Hepatitis outbreak traced to children’s daycare centre

January 12, 2006
Stuff (New Zealand)
Joanna Davis
Relatives and close contacts of Canterbury people infected with hepatitis A are being offered protective drugs after two more people were diagnosed with the viral liver disease.
Twelve people have now been infected since Christmas in Canterbury’s largest outbreak for more than five years. Normally only two or three cases of the jaundice-causing disease are identified each year in the region.
Canterbury District Health Board medical officer of health Dr Mel Brieseman said the two latest cases were close contacts of those earlier diagnosed.Continue Reading Protection offered as hepatitis outbreak spreads

Worry over Hep A outbreak in Christchurch
Jan 11, 2006
Two more cases of Hepatitis A have been reported in Christchurch – bringing the total number of people affected by the outbreak to 12 in the past two weeks.
On average, three cases of the virus are reported to the Canterbury District Health Board each year.
Canterbury Medical Officer of Health, Dr Mel Brieseman, says the ages of those affected range from three to 73 years.Continue Reading Two more Hep A cases confirmed