By JODY RECORD
Union Leader Correspondent
HAMPTON — A suspected case of hepatitis A is being investigated by the state after receiving a report of a fast-food restaurant employee showing similar symptoms of the disease.
Dr. Jose Montero of the Public Health Office in Concord confirmed yesterday tests are being done on “a food worker from a food establishment” for a possible case of hepatitis A. He described symptoms as including nausea, vomiting and a yellowing of the skin.
“There’s no diagnosis of hepatitis A in a person, but there is a person who is suspicious,” Montero said. “The person was not working today. They have been tested.”

Montero said the samples had just arrived late yesterday; the results should be known today.
He described the transfer of hepatitis A as “fecal/oral” and gave the example of someone not washing their hands after going to the bathroom and then preparing food. If that food worker had the viral infection, people eating the food would be at risk.
Hepatitis C is transferred through blood. An employee who had that type of infection would not be barred from working in a restaurant. Montero noted there is no public health threat with hepatitis C and people who prepare food.
“Some hepatitis A is transferred through drug use,” Montero said, adding there is a situation in New Hampshire now of escalating hepatitis A among drug users.
“We usually see 16 to 20 cases a year. This year, we had 16 cases the first quarter,” he said. “What the people had in common is drug use.”
Montero stresses that is not the case with the Hampton restaurant worker nor is the eatery implicated in any way.
Hampton’s Public Health Inspector Kevin Schultz said he had visited the Burger King on Route 1 after hearing of an alleged hepatitis situation.
“Nothing has been confirmed,” Schultz said. “As soon as we hear something like that, we act pretty quickly. We go down to see if the employee really exists; talk to the manager.”
Schultz confirmed the restaurant in question was the Burger King north of the town center. It remained open yesterday and Montero said that is not unusual.
“We would not close the restaurant if they were doing the standard practices, wearing gloves when they prepare food, washing their hands after using the restroom; those things,” Montero said. “The first thing to do is confirm there’s a case.”
If so, more interviews with other employees may be necessary, he said. Those interviews, any developing symptoms and the incubation period would all be factored in when deciding whether others would need vaccinating or other treatment.
“We want people who ate there to know they do not have to worry,” Montero said. “We need to wait and see.”
In reference to the rise in hepatitis in drug users, Montero urged users to get vaccinated at one of the state’s clinics for sexually transmitted disease or other health care facilities.