Massive inoculation
August 24, 2006
HUNDREDS of students were yesterday inoculated to prevent an outbreak of hepatitis A at their school after a tuckshop lady tested positive to the virus.
A mother who volunteered at St Patrick's College, Strathfield, on August 11 was diagnosed with the contagious disease on Monday.
The State Government has defended its decision to send out a media alert at 6pm on Tuesday -- more than 24 hours after the worker had been diagnosed.
"Public health officers began working with the school immediately to identify the possible risk to others and to put arrangements in place for the clinic," NSW Health communicable diseases director Dr Jeremy McAnulty said. "The media release was sent out to coincide with parents receiving notification."
The school contacted the Government on Tuesday and was advised by NSW Health. It was told as a precautionary measure that up to 400 students who bought canteen food on that day had to be inoculated.
The students were given preventative immunoglobulin antibody injections yesterday and the remainder will be injected today.
School headmaster Grahame Smollett told The Daily Telegraph it was purely a precaution, as canteen protocol demanded that helpers wore gloves while preparing food.
"It is precautionary at this stage. As to whether or not that particular person on that day consistently wore gloves, I'm not in a position to be able to say because I haven't spoken to her directly," Mr Smollett said.
Parent Diane Paul, who is five months pregnant, said she was worried about the spread of the virus and took yesterday off work so she could go to her doctor.
Her son Brendan is in Year 8 at the school and Mrs Paul said she was confident the school would "err on the side of caution".
"I wanted to make sure my son is being inoculated but it's just one of those things. It's a wild card really," Mrs Paul, 43, said.
The tuckshop worker, who prepared food for the students, did not display any symptoms and was unaware she posed a risk to others, a NSW Health spokesman said.
Hepatitis A is a virus that infects the liver. Infected people are able to pass on the disease two weeks before they develop any symptoms.
A person is infected by swallowing the virus, which usually occurs if they eat or drink food handled by an infected person or through direct contact with that person.
The symptoms include tiredness, fever, nausea, poor appetite and abdominal discomfort, although not all people who are infected develop symptoms.
