By Kaitlin Melanson/ kmelanso@cnc.com
Thursday, March 16, 2006
In order to be fully prepared for the unpredictable, the Marblehead Health Department is seeking a little help from its neighbors.
Among the articles gracing this year’s warrant is one sponsored by the Board of Health, which seeks to set up a mutual-aid system not much unlike those used by the police and fire departments.
“Essentially, we are looking for a formalized back-up system in case of an emergency,” said Health Director Wayne Attridge.Continue Reading Health department to seek mutual-aid system

Hepatitis A is one of five human hepatitis viruses that primarily infect the human liver and cause human illness. (There are many other viruses that can inflame the liver which infect us more generally.) The other known human hepatitis viruses are hepatitis B, C, D, and E. Hepatitis A is relatively unusual in nations with developed sanitation systems such as the United States. Nevertheless, it continues to occur here.
Each year, an estimated 100 persons die as a result of acute liver failure in the United States due to Hepatitis A1. Approximately 30 – 50,000 cases occur yearly in the United States and the direct and indirect costs of these cases exceed $300 million1. The unfortunate aspect of these statistics is that with 21st century medicine, Hepatitis A is totally preventable, and isolated cases, and especially outbreaks relegated to food consumption, need not occur.Continue Reading What is Hepatitis A?

With more and more Americans eating out than ever before, diners need to keep their minds on safety and look for telltale indicators of poor hygiene at restaurants.
By Gary White
The Ledger
Barbara Whitman’s 63rd birthday was unforgettable — and not in a good way. Whitman’s two sisters took her out to one of her favorite Lakeland restaurants the night before her birthday last August. She indulged in a crabmeat appetizer and her usual entree, mahi mahi, both of which she found delectable.
Later that night, though, Whitman awoke to a sensation of extreme nausea. The misery carried though her birthday, ruining a home-cooked dinner her sister, Angela Akins, planned for Whitman and their mother, whose birthday was three days later.Continue Reading Heading to a Restaurant? Let’s Be Careful Out There

Hepatitis A is a communicable (or contagious) disease that spreads from person to person. It is transmitted by the “fecal — oral route.” This does not mean, or course, that Hepatitis A transmission requires that fecal material from an infectious individual must come in contact directly with the mouth of a susceptible individual. It is almost always true that the virus infects a susceptible individual when he or she ingests it, but it gets to the mouth by an indirect route.
Food contaminated with the virus is the most common vehicle transmitting Hepatitis A. The food preparer or cook is the individual most often contaminating the food. He or she is generally not ill: the peak time of infectivity (i.e., when the most virus is present in the stool of an infectious individual) is during the 2 weeks before illness begins. Hepatitis A is spread almost exclusively through fecal-oral contact, generally from person-to-person, or via contaminated food or water.Continue Reading How is Hepatitis A transmitted?

March 10, 2006
My.accenture.com
Jane Woodhead
Source: Liverpool Echo (UK)
A hepatitis outbreak has struck down four children at a Merseyside school and five staff members have also been hit by the liver virus at Lander Road primary in Litherland.
All 215 pupils and staff will receive injections and give mouth swabs on Monday to ensure the hepatitis A outbreak does not spread.
The school has stopped selling toast, turned off its water fountains and instructed all children to wash their hands before and after going into the dining room.Continue Reading Hepatitis outbreak at school ; Four children hit by liver virus

WVLT-TV Knoxville, TN
A Hepatits A outbreak last year in Campbell County sickend more than 60 people.
Volunteer TV’s Eric Waddell updates us on the on-going effort to eliminate the virus from the community.
State health officials are making a final push to get children vaccinated across Campbell County. The reason, the hope is that the spring and summer of 2006 will not hold the same type of problems that happened with Hepatitis A in 2005.
“We have not had a new case of Hepatitis A in Campbell County since September of last year, so we are very encouraged that the vaccination effort is doing what it needs to do,” Sandy Halford from the Health Department said.Continue Reading Hepatitis A Vaccines for Children