April 27, 2005
STOCKTON”A warning is out for families whose children attend 4 schools in Stockton: keey an eye out for Hepatitis-A. A cafeteria worker has come down with the infectious disease.
School and public health officials started to worry after a part-time cafeteria worker at Franklin High School was diagnosed with hepatitis A. Advisory letters went out to Franklin High and three elementary schools that are served by its cafeteria.
Diane Barth of the Stockton Unified School District told FOX40 News “She did not handle too much of the food, however they do believe that she handled some oranges that were placed in trays and delivered to the three schools.” Those schools are James Urbani, Millard Fillmore and Martin Luther King. They’re keying on students who may have eaten cafeteria food on April 12th, 13th, and 15th.

County Health and the district says the chances of infection are low, in part because the worker followed safety procedures at work. “She was a fanatic hand washer, very good with handwashing, which is obviously the way you prevent this disease”, said Barth.
Hepatitis-A can cause severe flu-like symptoms. The virus lives in fecal matter and is spread from hand to hand, and then to the mouth, often through food. The staff at Martin Luther King School normally keeps an eye out for sick kids. They’ll be extra careful in the next three weeks– it takes a month for symptoms to appear if you’re infected.
Students at King Elementary are luckier than most schools in the district. It has it’s own medical Center to take care of students here. Linda Luna, Principal at King, said “We’re very fortunate here if, for instance, if our students needed innoculations, and at this point public health doesn’t feel they need that.”
Immunizations are being offered by the county health department, but not required because many students have already been vaccinated before they enroll.