Hepatitis A Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Hepatitis A Blog

Cherokee Lake in Hawkins County, Tennessee is apparently Ground Zero for the Hepatitis A outbreak we reported on in the previous post.   The neighboring  Kentucky River District Health Department says there have been eight confirmed cases of hepatitis A from people who live in or have recently visited the Tennessee lake.

The health department is offering hepatitis A vaccines to anyone who has been to the lake since May 14th.  “If you get vaccinated it can prevent this virus from happening even after exposure. It’s a very serious virus and it needs to be treated,” Kentucky River District Health Department’s Renee Neace said.

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Traveling as we do, we often have time to learn about local history and why some places are different.  Take eastern Tennessee for example.   A remote territory of North Carolina before we broke with King George III, eastern Tennessee found it a.) wasn't wanted by North Carolina due to it having too many restless Native Americans, and b.) it's attempt to birth a new, independent state of Franklin wasn't welcomed by the new USA either.

It was while the State of Franklin was attempting to birth itself that North Carolina founded Hawkins County in 1787.  While Franklin was aborted after about four years of pretending to be a state, Hawkins County made the transition to Tennessee when it was admitted to the Union in 1796.

Today, Hawkins County is continuing this East Tennessee independence in offering the public
free Hepatitis A shots.    Here's what the Bristol Herald Courier is reporting:

The Northeast Regional Health Office has confirmed seven reported Hepatitis A cases in the Mooresburg community of Hawkins County. 

Free Hepatitis A vaccines will be offered to all Mooresburg Community residents Wednesday and Thursday, May 28th and 29th at the Slate Hill Baptist Church. The Slate Hill Baptist Church is located two miles off of State Highway 11 W on Slate Hill Road. The clinic will run from noon to 7p.m..

The Hawkins County Health Department is working with the Northeast Regional Health Office to give the vaccines to all adults and children (over 12 months of age). Officials are asking parents to bring immunization records for all minor children.

While we would like to know more about food outlets that might connect the seven cases, we sure like the idea of opening up the offer of free shots to everyone in the community.   Do you suppose local restaurants are taking advantage of this offer to get their staffs vaccinated?  Go for it Eastern Tennessee.   Get shot like its 1787!

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A second Hepatitis A lawsuit was filed today against Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., in San Diego County Superior Court.

The complaint was filed on behalf of San Diego resident Rhonda Salgado, who was infected with Hepatitis A after eating food from the Chipotle Grill in La Mesa, California, between February and April 2008.

The lawsuit states Ms. Saldago developed symptoms of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection on April 10, 2008 and required medical attention on multiple occasions including April 19, April 24, and May 1, 2008.

In the course of these visits, her blood tested positive for Hepatitis A. Ms. Salgado remains ill, and has not been able to return to work.

In late April 2008, San Diego County health officials announced that a number of HAV infections had been traced to the restaurant, located at 8005 Fletcher Parkway in La Mesa. Officials advised customers who had eaten at the restaurant between March 1 and April 22 that they might be at risk for infection.

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Denver is the hometown of Chipotle Mexican Grill.   So,  we are not surprised with the "homer" coverage the fast food chain is getting from Joyselle Davis, a business writer at the Rocky Mountain News.

Within the same news cycle that Terry Wesley sued Chipotle for giving him Hepatitis A from eating at the Mexican fast food chain's outlet on Fletcher Parkway in Le Mesa,  Ms. Davis writes a glowing story entitled "Chipotle rides onto a bigger stage."  In it she makes no mention of the fact that Chipolte's Kent, Ohio outlet has spread norovirus to more than 400 while the Le Mesa, CA Chipolte is serving up Hepatitus A to 21 confirmed cases so far.

Instead,  "The Rocky" has a just "slap your leg" with laughs story about how the European riders on the new "Slipstream-Chipotle" cycling team call burritos "bread."   Wow, is that funny or what?

The serious part of the story, the part that could have just as well been written by the burrito peddlers public relations department, was this:

For co-sponsor Chipotle Mexican Grill, which prides itself on using only hormone- and antibiotic-free meat, the marketing deal gives the restaurant chain a vehicle to take its additive-free ethos to the world stage.

"This is a team that's very vigorous about their drug testing and keeping their bodies clean, and that's very much our philosophy," said Jim Adams, Chipotle's executive marketing director.

Excuse us for being picky, but we are far more concerned about a restaurant chain being "pathogen free" than we are about its ethos or its cycling team.   Chipotle is making people sick.  Its customers would also like to be "drug free," but they all have to get well before that's going to happen.

Writing about Hepatitis A, the viral infection that attacks the liver and is spread by fecal contamination of water or food, isn't as much fun as those colorful new bike uniforms "The Rocky" is so excited about.  Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, fever, fatigue, dark urine and jaundice.

But that's path Terry Wesley has been forced to take by Chipolte.  Its a far  tougher ride.  Its the one "The Rocky" apparently does not want to hear, see, or talk about.

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