September 3, 2006
Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
Lisa A. Abraham
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/nation/15431779.htm?source=syn

KENT – Kent State University officials are dealing with one confirmed and one suspected case of hepatitis A in students, and are working with public health officials to administer hundreds of immunizations to keep the virus from spreading.

The confirmed case is a male student who works for a branch of the school’s food service that provides catering for university functions.

Officials at a news conference Saturday said they have begun tracking down about 500 people who may have come in contact with food the student helped to prepare, as well as his co-workers and roommates.

By Saturday afternoon, Kent’s University Health Services had administered 270 shots of immune globulin — hepatitis A antibodies, which can help to prevent the virus in people who have already been exposed.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver caused by a virus and occurs in several forms. Hepatitis A is usually not life-threatening and has an incubation period of two to six weeks. Symptoms include fever and nausea.

The male student is recovering well, officials said. Meanwhile, a second student was admitted to Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna on Friday with liver inflammation. Saturday, officials were waiting on the results of her blood tests to determine if she has hepatitis A.

No link found

John Ferliot, the city of Kent’s health commissioner, said he interviewed both students extensively and has been unable to find a link between the two.
Both students are from Ohio, but they don’t know each other and neither was living in university housing. It’s possible they contracted the virus independently before they arrived on campus for the start of the academic year Tuesday.
Ray Leone, chief university physician, said it would be three days before the second student’s blood test results are known. She was hospitalized chiefly to be treated for dehydration, he said.

The first student arrived on campus in mid-August to return to his food service job. The student works at the university’s main kitchen in the Student Center, which provides catering for various events.

Food is not prepared there for cafeterias, restaurants or the Student Center’s food court area known as the Hub.

The student last worked on Aug. 24 and became ill two days later.
On Monday, he sought treatment at the emergency room of Robinson Memorial and was treated at KSU’s health services on Tuesday.

His blood test results confirming hepatitis A came back on Friday, and the university immediately began notifying and giving the immune globulin shots to his roommates, co-workers and others with whom he may have come in contact. The school also offered the shots to the student’s family.

Because he was working in catering, the university was able to determine where all of the food he helped prepare went. Ron Kirksey, a Kent State spokesman, said the food service catered 72 events between Aug. 18 and 24 when the student was working.

The departments that sponsored those events have been notified and were told to contact those who attended to advise them to get the shot.

Leone said the student is a reliable employee and cautious about his sanitation habits — always washing his hands and wearing gloves — but did work with fruits and vegetables that were served uncooked.

The student is expected to return to work in food service, but not for at least another 10 days, he said.

The female student arrived on campus within the past few days. Her mother brought her to health services Friday suspecting she had some type of flu. Leone said the girl had not eaten any meals on campus since her return, but because of the other case, he decided to check her for hepatitis.

Source hard to track

Angela DeJulius, medical director of the Portage County Health Department, said the source of the hepatitis virus can’t be determined in half of all cases.
Those at greatest risk are family members or roommates who share bathrooms and have direct contact with those who are infected. The virus is spread through fecal matter, typically when people don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom.

The last time a KSU student had a confirmed case of hepatitis A was in 2003. That student was one of more than 650 people who were sickened by tainted green onions after dining at a Chi-Chi’s restaurant at the Beaver Valley Mall, some 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

At that time, KSU offered immune globulin shots to about 50 others who lived in the same dormitory with that student, as well as staff members who cleaned bathrooms.