BY ELLEN MITCHELL
Special to Newsday
May 30, 2006
Recently, three girls in a fifth-grade class in a New Jersey school were diagnosed with hepatitis A. The news comes at a time when pediatricians around the country are recommending that babies as young as 12 months old be vaccinated to protect against the virus that causes hepatitis A.
The disease triggers liver inflammation. Though it’s generally much less serious than both hepatitis B and C, each year about 30,000 Americans, including children, contract hepatitis A, and 50 die of the disease, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Symptoms of hepatitis A can include fever, jaundice, nausea and vomiting. They are usually less severe in young children than in adults, but a vomiting baby is more likely to become dehydrated than an adult.
Hepatitis A is highly contagious. Some people do not realize when they have a mild case of the disease, which they can spread. The virus can be transmitted in food or water. It is present in the stool of those infected and can spread easily if they fail to wash their hands thoroughly. Typically, one hears of outbreaks in restaurants stemming from an infected food handler. A tot in a day-care center could easily infect other children.Continue Reading Hepatitis A vaccine aimed at younger kids

by JULIE E. GREENE julieg@herald-mail.com
Before you go: Consult a travel medicine clinic or your doctor as soon as possible before the trip. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests going four to six weeks before the trip.
If vaccinations are needed, this will allow time for the body to build up immunity or allow time if a series of shots are required, says Dr. Ted Sofish with Occupational Health Associates in Chambersburg, Pa.
This visit to the doctor also will help you determine what medical items you’ll need to take. It helps to know your itinerary so you can tell the doctor how long you will be away, what type of accommodations you will have (hotel or camping), and what types of areas you will visit (urban or rural). Visits to remote rural areas can have greater health risks.Continue Reading Tips for international travel preparation

By: Cindy Andrews
10:24 AM Monday, May 22nd, 2006
Is it really important?
Some amazing facts: Only 40 % of the adult population worldwide routinely washes their hands after using the toilet. Women tend to comply more frequently than men. The reasoning for this is time, resources (such as no soap or water available), and…

Officials weigh mutual aid pact
By Katheleen Conti
Globe Staff | May 18, 2006
Four area communities are considering joining 23 other Boston suburbs in a public-health mutual aid effort that was conceived two years ago after a hepatitis A outbreak in an Arlington restaurant.
Overwhelmed when about 3,000 residents waited for inoculation after the outbreak, Arlington’s health director reached out to her counterparts in neighboring communities for assistance. The incident spawned the formation of a voluntary alliance among area public health department officials, who are now seeking a formal relationship similar to the mutual aid initiatives used by public safety officials.
On May 8, the Revere City Council unanimously accepted the mutual aid agreement, officially consenting to share public health resources on an as-needed basis with the other communities in its designated region.Continue Reading Crossing borders for public health

Officials are trying to identify the source
Friday, May 19, 2006
BY ROBERT E. MISSECK
Star-Ledger Staff
A sixth Cranford student has been diagnosed with hepatitis A, and health officials have yet to determine the source of the infection.
The latest case involves a fifth- grade girl at Orange Avenue Elementary School, school officials said.
Three other girls and a boy, all 11 years old and in the same grade at the school, were previously in fected. A second 11-year-old boy, who is home-schooled, was also diagnosed with the virus.Continue Reading 6th student in Cranford found with hepatitis A

Six Children Have Been Infected
Christine Sloan
WCBS TV
(CBS) CRANFORD Brian Woo is a sixth-grader at the Orange Avenue School in Cranford, where health officials today confirmed a new case of Hepatitis A.
That brings the number of kids infected with the virus to six. So this 12-year-old isn’t taking any chances. “I’m really worried about getting it,” Woo said. “I wash my hands everyday, I put on Purell, all that stuff.”
“It is scary, I didn’t know there was a new case,” said Ursula Ansari, a parent who has a student in the school.Continue Reading Another Case Of Hepatitis Concerns NJ Community

Officials weigh mutual aid pact
By Katheleen Conti, Globe Staff | May 18, 2006
Four area communities are considering joining 23 other Boston suburbs in a public-health mutual aid effort that was conceived two years ago after a hepatitis A outbreak in an Arlington restaurant.
Overwhelmed when about 3,000 residents waited for inoculation after the outbreak, Arlington’s health director reached out to her counterparts in neighboring communities for assistance. The incident spawned the formation of a voluntary alliance among area public health department officials, who are now seeking a formal relationship similar to the mutual aid initiatives used by public safety officials.
On May 8, the Revere City Council unanimously accepted the mutual aid agreement, officially consenting to share public health resources on an as-needed basis with the other communities in its designated region.Continue Reading Crossing borders for public health

Officials seek source of contamination
Thursday, May 11, 2006
BY ROBERT E. MISSECK
Star-Ledger Staff
At least three students at an elementary school in Cranford have recently been infected with the hepatitis A virus, and health officials said yesterday they have not yet determined the source of the contamination.
All of the students are 11-year-old female fifth-graders at the Orange Avenue School who be came ill last week, according to School Superintendent Lawrence Feinsod.
“We also have possibly one other unconfirmed case, a boy, at the same school,” he said.Continue Reading 3 students at school in Cranford get hepatitis A