More Hepatitis A Now Expected In Maine
Health professionals in Maine are on the lookout this week for more cases of Hepatitis A. After a sixth school child was diagnosed with Hepatitis A it brought the total number of cases in the Kennebunk/Kennebunkport area to 12.
Officials now think that someone who traveled overseas to an area where Hepatitis A is common brought the disease back to Maine and that is what caused others to get it. The Maine-based news service, seacoastonline says:
Last week, district officials, school physician and local pediatrician Don Burgess and the Maine Center for Disease Control's Andy Pelletier met with parents to try to address their concerns. While nearly 80 percent of the school's students have received the hepatitis A vaccine, Pelletier expressed concern that 20 percent had not. Those students are vulnerable to the infection, he said.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, hepatitis A is "an acute liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), lasting from a few weeks to several months. It does not lead to chronic infection." It is transmitted through the ingestion of fecal matter and from close person-to-person contact or ingestion of contaminated food or drinks.
For more, go here.
