Public health officials have identified three new cases of hepatitis A in the past week.

The cases are all in one family and connected to an earlier case, bringing to 15 the total number of infections in an outbreak in the Lower Sackville area. The first case was identified in early June.

Five of the initial 12 cases were students from Hillside Park Elementary School. None of the new cases are associated with the school, said Geoff Wilson, spokesman for the Capital district health authority.

Public health staff are following up with the contacts of the new cases. That may include vaccination against the virus when appropriate, he said.

Since classes resumed this week, public health officials have stepped up education efforts in Hillside Park and other schools where students have family or community connections to people with hepatitis A. Public health staff will teach students in each classroom about the importance of handwashing.

Hepatitis A is passed in the stool and can be transmitted through hand contact when people don’t properly wash after using the bathroom or changing a diaper or before preparing food.

Its flu-like symptoms include diarrhea and loss of appetite, dark urine and light-coloured stool. Infected people typically develop jaundice, with skin taking on a yellow colour. The virus usually passes in a few weeks.

Unlike hep B and C, transmitted through blood and body fluids, hep A does not lead to lifelong infection.

People who share the same household or have close personal contact with someone who is infected with hepatitis A are at greatest risk of getting the virus, a health authority release said. Casual contact, such as in an office, usually does not spread the virus.