Four new cases of hepatitis A found in Fayette County
Fri, Mar. 31, 2006
Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Four new cases of hepatitis A were found in Fayette County, bringing to 14 the number of people affected by the illness, but health investigators haven't determined how some of the people became sick.
T.J. Sugg, regional epidemiologist for the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, said the investigation is continuing, especially since three of the recent cases have no obvious connection to the prior cases.
The first reported cases were among an extended family in two households. The family's toddler was exposed to hepatitis A while traveling outside the United States. The family's kindergartner, who attends Mary Todd Elementary, passed it to two classmates. Then a neighbor of the family got the disease.
The latest cases involve a preschooler at Yates Elementary, and two adults, none of whom have known connections to the other sick people, Sugg said.
Sugg said that none of the sick adults works in food service.
"We're happy about that," he said. Infected food service workers have often been a focal point of hepatitis A outbreaks.
Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, Kentucky's director of epidemiology and health planning, said, so far, health officials are handling the cases properly, by making links between the infected people and vaccinating others who have come into contact with them.
Hepatitis A has a long incubation period - on average, 28 days, but people can harbor the virus for as long as 50 days before they show symptoms.
Hepatitis A is spread by putting something in the mouth that is contaminated with the fecal matter of someone infected with the virus.
Hepatitis A is usually a relatively mild disease, but it can spread quickly. Kentucky has faced outbreaks in the past.
Fayette County had 19 cases in 1994, with about half of them among workers at several restaurants and a private dining room. An outbreak in Northern Kentucky that same year sickened more than 90 people.
Health officials eventually traced that incident to a foodservice worker at a Covington catering company who unknowingly had the disease and spread it to customers.
