August 2005

By KRISTI L. NELSON, nelsonk@knews.com
August 4, 2005
Health officials have confirmed two new cases of hepatitis A in the region: one in Campbell County, where 15 other cases have been confirmed, and the other in Cocke County.
Counting a case in Scott County, 18 cases have now been confirmed in what health officials last week labeled an “outbreak.”
The Cocke County case was the first in that area. During interviews, however, health officials tentatively tied the Cocke County case to some others in Campbell County, said Sandy Halford, registered nurse in communicable disease control for East Tennessee Regional Health Office. Because of this, Halford added, “we’re not concerned that we’re seeing a new outbreak in Cocke County.”Continue Reading Two new cases of hepatitis A verified

Vaccination programs have helped take the state’s disease rate from one of the 17 worst to near the U.S. average
By Carey Hamilton
The Salt Lake Tribune
08/01/2005
From 1987 to 1997, Utah – for reasons unknown – had the dubious distinction of being one of 17 states with the highest rate of hepatitis A infections.
However, the number of cases has since declined steadily in all the high-risk states, thanks in large part to a vaccination program targeting children, according to a recent report in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The hepatitis A vaccine was licensed in 1995 for use in people older than 2 years. It has been required for school entry in Utah since 1999.
Reported cases in Utah decreased from 3.2 cases per 100,000 people in 2000 to 1.7 cases per 100,000 people in 2003. The cases reached a peak of 1,073 overall for all age groups in 1996 and dropped to their lowest at 36 in 2004. People 19 to 39 years old were affected the most in 1996, with 533 illnesses reported. That age group had only 13 cases in 2004.Continue Reading Hepatitis A cases in Utah wane after decade of highs

WVLT – Knoxville
Jacksboro, Campbell County (WVLT) – Two more cases of Hepatitis-A show up in East Tennessee over the weekend.
There are now 18-confirmed cases in Campbell and Scott counties.
The two latest cases are both in adults in Campbell County.
Health workers say it appears they are connected to the outbreak.
The Health…

But parents say opting not to have children get shots is a control issue
By JENNIFER RADCLIFFE
Houston Chronicle
July 31, 2005, 8:23PM
Thousands of parents across the state are exempting their children from required school vaccines, despite concerns that Texas is one of the most poorly immunized states in the nation.
The state health department has mailed 36,993 affidavits to roughly 11,400 people interested in claiming the “conscientious objection,” created by the Legislature two years ago to give parents more flexibility to refuse shots.
Though some parents applaud the law, medical experts fear that Texas — and the 17 other states that allow such broad philosophical exemptions — are sending the wrong message. Without the shots, they say, potentially fatal diseases such as measles and whooping cough could make a comeback.
“In the area of public health, we typically have rules,” said Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “This replaces medical correctness with political correctness.”Continue Reading School-vaccine waivers inject concern in experts