Hepatitis Blog - Hepatitis Vaccinations For Food Workers Could Be Reality - Comments http://www.hepatitisblog.com/ Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : Bill Marler : Marler Clark en Copyright 2011 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:40:01 -0800 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:40:01 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.32-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss jovonni Vaccinating food service workers against hepatitis A would be a great idea. But, I do not think the epidemiology and disease burden would warrant mandatory vaccinations. I think employers should offer it to their employees and explain the pros and cons. I do not think it should prohibit anyone from being gainfully employed. And of course, an employer does not have the right to pre-screen applicants to see if they have any of the below mentioned criteria to be considered high risk. According to CDC, people who are most at risk are:
•Household contacts of infected persons
•Sex contacts of infected persons
•Persons, especially children, living in areas with increased rates of hepatitis A during the baseline period from 1987-1997.
•Persons traveling to countries where hepatitis A is common
•Men who have sex with men
•Injecting and non-injecting drug users
Although, food service workers come in contact with a lot of different people and surfaces which may be infected with hepatitis A; proper hygiene (hand washing) can prevent many cases. So, before we jump to mandatory vaccinations and all of the red tape, maybe a focus should be on proper sanitation. Besides, hepatitis A just recently became universally recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for all children aged 12-23 months. Before, it was only recommended for the high risk groups. Since the implementation of vaccination, the incidence has greatly decreased to a rate of less than 10 cases per 100,000 persons for all age groups in 2004. In addition, food borne outbreaks of hepatitis A are pretty infrequent in the United States, even where food handlers are infected.

Reference:
MMWR. Prevention of Hepatitis A through active and passive immunization. Retrieved July 10, 2007 from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5507.pdf

]]> http://www.hepatitisblog.com/hepatitis-a-watch/hepatitis-vaccinations-for-food-workers-could-be-reality/#14734 http://www.hepatitisblog.com/hepatitis-a-watch/hepatitis-vaccinations-for-food-workers-could-be-reality/#14734 Hepatitis A Watch Tue, 22 May 2007 10:46:17 -0800 marler@marlerclark.com (Hepatitis A Lawyer)