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

Iowa experienced a 294 percent increase in Hepatitis A cases over the previous three-year period, the state Department of Public Health reports.

According to the annual Iowa Surveillance of Notifiable and Other Diseases report, the Cornhusker State went from a low of 13 Hepatitis A cases statewide in 2006 to 109 cases in 2008.

The uptick represents a 294 percent increase over 2005-2007, the previous three year average. A cluster of cases in southeast Iowa in 2008 was blamed on a restaurant server who continued to work while infected with the liver disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hepatitis A is usually spread when the virus is taken in by mouth from contact with objects, food, or drinks contaminated by the feces (or stool) of an infected persons.

"The best way to prevent the spread of hepatitis A is to practice good hand washing at all times," said Deb Steffen, community health manager at Floyd Valley Hospital in LeMars, IA.

Steffen’s Plymouth County got through 2008 without a single Hepatitis A case. Nationally, the number of Hepatitis A cases is running at its lowest level in 40 years. A vaccine became widely available after 1995, and it has cut down on incidents of the diseases.
 

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Quad Cities residents are not going to soon forget the Hepatitis A outbreak at the Milan McDonald’s.

An Alpha, IL couple, Nichole and John Shannon, became the latest to sue McDonald’s and Milan, IL franchise owner Kevin Murphy in Rock Island County Circuit Court late last week. Mrs. Shannon was hospitalized from July 11-17, tested positive for the Hepatitis A virus, and suffered from liver damage, according the lawsuit.

The Milan McDonald’s was closed July15-17 on orders from the Rock Island County Health Department. The department took the action when a second McDonald’s employee was diagnosed with Hepatitis A on July 15.

At least 32 people testing positive for Hepatitis A are now associated in the Milan McDonald’s outbreak.   Counties in both western Illinois and eastern Iowa have contributed to the count. Eighteen of those cases are from Rock Island County where the fast food burger joint is located.

In addition to the injured, 5,324 people who made the mistake of dining at the establishment took advantage of the health department’s offer for free vaccines, which can prevent sickness from occurring after exposure. 

Those exposed to the virus and got shots are part of a class action lawsuit that has also been filed.

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Swan's Island is a 30-minute ride on the Captain Henry Lee, a 17-car ferry out of Bass Harbor, Maine. When you arrive after Labor Day, there are only about 350 people on the 7,000 acre island.

Now one has died and at least five others are ill --all from Hepatitis A.   The six victims and four other suspected cases all stayed in the same Swan's Island house, although apparently not all at the same time. 

The fatality was a woman over age 50 who died after returning home.   Other victims range in age from 13 to 69.  One person remains in the hospital.

During the summer, visitors to Swan's Island increases the population to as many as 1,000.  The Hepatitis A outbreak claimed victims from the Midwest and Middle Atlantic States who were apparently summer visitors.

The Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Dr. Dora Anne Mills says the source of the Hepatitis A is unclear.  The house involved did have a septic system problem and nearby clam flats were closed down as a precaution.

Hepatitis A is spread through unsanitary conditions through saliva or fecal contamination.  It is not common in Maine as the state averages only about 11 cases each year.  No longer residents are involved in the current outbreak.  Swan's Island is on the coast near Bar Harbor.

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