W.VA: 2018/2019Hepatitis A

[Shiloh]

Source: http://wvmetronews.com/2018/04/18/he...tate-outbreak/

Hepatitis A cases in Kanawha, Putnam counties linked to multistate outbreak
By MetroNews Staff in News | April 18, 2018 at 8:15PM

CHARLESTON, W.Va. ? Recent cases of Hepatitis A in Kanawha and Putnam counties are linked to a multistate outbreak of disease, the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department said Monday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports California, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and Utah have been affected by the outbreak since as early as August 2016. Twenty-eight cases of Hepatitis A has been confirmed in Kanawha and Putnam counties since January of this year...

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.whsv.com/content/news/Dea...1.html?ref=111


Death suspected from West Virginia hepatitis A outbreak
By Associated Press ; WSAZ newsroom |
Posted: Thu 6:05 PM, May 24, 2018

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP, WSAZ) ? Health officials in West Virginia are reporting the first death in Kanawha County suspected to be related to an outbreak of hepatitis A.

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department says in a news release that department officials spoke with a relative who confirmed Wednesday's death of a 33-year-old person. The patient was not a food service worker and had other "significant" chronic diseases or conditions that led to the death, according to the DHHR.

While it's believed the death is related to hepatitis A, the official cause of death has not been released...

...The state Bureau for Public Health reports 106 confirmed or suspected cases of hepatitis A in eight counties across West Virginia.

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/u...c1c1b27cf.html


Update: Food service worker diagnosed with hepatitis A in Wayne County
Michael Lemley 18 min ago 0

CEREDO — A food service worker in Wayne County has been diagnosed with hepatitis A, according to the Wayne County Health Department.

The health department confirmed the diagnosis in a release Thursday. The worker is an employee of a Pizza Hut in Ceredo.

The health department said the risk of transmission is very low, but those who ate at the restaurant on May 24 or 25 should consider getting the vaccine. The department also said there have not been any cases from exposure at the restaurant...

***********************************************
Source: http://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/i...nia/1210519562

IHOP employee diagnosed with Hepatitis A in West Virginia
By: Paul Rodzinka
Updated: May 31, 2018 11:33 AM EDT


HUNTINGTON, WV (WOWK) - The Cabell-Huntington Health Department has confirmed a case of Hepatitis A in a food service worker at IHOP.

The worker was employed at the IHOP in Barboursville, WV...

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.montgomery-herald.com/new...543dda175.html


KCHD identifies two more hepatitis A cases in food service workers
3 hrs ago

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, which provides public health services for Kanawha and Putnam counties, has confirmed hepatitis A cases in food service workers at the Taco Bell at 4152 WV-34 in Hurricane and the Pizza Hut at 5730 MacCorkle Ave. in Charleston. One worker has been identified at each facility. This is part of an investigation involving a hepatitis A outbreak that began in February and has been linked to a national outbreak.

As a precaution, family members and co-workers are receiving hepatitis A immunizations, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocols...

...Transmission risk is extremely low..

...The infectious period when the Taco Bell employee could have potentially transmitted the disease, is May 19 to June 12. It is May 26 to June 11 for the Pizza Hut employee. The possibility of transmission is present only when the employee was working at the facility...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.nhregister.com/news/arti...a-13028055.php


5 hepatitis A cases identified in West Virginia food workers
Published 4:38 pm, Tuesday, June 26, 2018

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) ? Health officials in West Virginia say they've identified five more hepatitis A cases in food service workers.

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department says a McDonald's on Patrick Street in Charleston, a Pizza Hut on Third Street in Saint Albans, Paul's Poplar Park Drive Inn in Scott Depot, Sakura on Nitro Place in Cross Lanes and Sam's Club on Mountaineer Boulevard in South Charleston each had one worker identified...

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/_rece...d8c6d19c9.html


73 hepatitis A cases confirmed in Cabell County
The Herald-Dispatch Jun 29, 2018 Updated 5 hrs ago (0)

HUNTINGTON ? Cabell County's number of confirmed hepatitis A cases rose by 40 percent this week to 73 confirmed cases ? up from 44 last week and 36 two weeks ago ? according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

In Wayne County, 13 cases have been confirmed, up from 11 last week.

The Cabell-Huntington Health Department is asking medical providers and pharmacies to stock the vaccine for members of the public who want to be immunized...

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/_rece...ad0cb8f9f.html


Hepatitis A cases hit triple digits in Cabell County
By BISHOP NASH
The Herald-Dispatch Jul 13, 2018 Updated Jul 13, 2018

HUNTINGTON ? Cabell County's number of confirmed hepatitis A cases rose by 21 percent this week to 114 ? up from 94 the previous week and nearly tripling from 44 cases four weeks ago, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

In Wayne County, 20 cases have been confirmed, up from 15 last week and 11 two weeks ago.

As of Friday, 540 confirmed cases of hepatitis A have been reported in West Virginia, with 297 in Kanawha County alone, according to the DHHR. Putnam County has reported 60 cases.

Men make up 57 percent of hepatitis A contractions in West Virginia, which has been diagnosed in residents aged 14 to 82...

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.williamsondailynews.com/n...6bf7e4bb4.html


Officials outline facts on hep A outbreak
21 hrs ago

By BISHOP NASH

HD Media

HUNTINGTON - As health officials across West Virginia push on through the thick of the 2018 hepatitis A outbreak, the public heard new information - as well as a reiteration of basic facts - during a town hall forum Thursday night hosted by the Cabell-Huntington Health Department.

Cabell County has 131 confirmed cases as of Thursday, according to Shannon McBee, senior epidemiologist with the state Bureau for Public Health. Statewide, 626 cases and two deaths have been confirmed, with more than half of the cases being in Kanawha County.

Compared to normal circumstances, West Virginia averaged just nine hepatitis A cases annually in past years, McBee said. A contraction has led to hospitalization in 63 percent of cases statewide.

Cabell County had not had a diagnosed case in the past five years, said Tonya Chaney, Cabell-Huntington Health Department regional epidemiologist, but has averaged 20 new cases per week during the outbreak. Men account for 76 percent of hepatitis A cases in Cabell County, far surpassing the 58 percentage average statewide...

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/_rece...2b79a3fd4.html


10th Street Gino's employee diagnosed with hep A
By BISHOP NASH 39 sec ago

HUNTINGTON ? A food service worker at the Gino?s Pizza on 10th Street in Huntington has been diagnosed with hepatitis A, the Cabell-Huntington Health Department confirmed Wednesday.

The department has determined the risk for transmission as ?very low,? but advises those who ate or drank at the restaurant between Aug. 1 to Aug. 3, and Aug. 6 to Aug. 7 to consider receiving the hepatitis A vaccine.

A department investigation determined the restaurant continues to operate safely, and that the purpose of the alert is purely preventative. There have been no cases of food-borne exposure from affected restaurants anywhere in the Tri-State during the 2018 hepatitis A outbreak.

Nancy Smith, speaking on behalf of Gino?s Pizza, wrote in a release the restaurant has followed health department guidelines and sanitized the building...

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.bdtonline.com/region/peop...f65a6008e.html



People possibly exposed to Hepatitis A at West Virginia bar
15 hrs ago

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) ? A West Virginia health department says people who attended a cookout earlier this month at a Charleston bar may have been exposed to Hepatitis A.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department announced the warning Wednesday. A department release says attendees who consumed food or drink at the Lee Street Lounge on Aug. 6 should get vaccinated against the virus before Aug. 20. Health officials say getting vaccinated within two weeks of exposure can help prevent getting the virus...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.wvnews.com/hepatitis-a-c...bb26706b5.html


Hepatitis A case reported in Monongalia County
by JoAnn Snoderly NCWV MEDIA 5 hrs ago 0

MORGANTOWN ? A single case of hepatitis A has been reported in Monongalia County, but officials are not yet sure that the strain of the virus matches that of a multi-state outbreak that has impacted other West Virginia counties, according to a regional epidemiologist.

The Monongalia County case was ?reported sometime in the last month,? according to Dr. Diane Gross, epidemiologist for the state?s Northeastern Region, which includes Monongalia, Harrison, Marion, Taylor, Barbour, Doddridge and Preston counties...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.dominionpost.com/2018/09...regional-jail/

2 inmates diagnosed with Hepatitis A at North Central Regional Jail
The Dominion Post
September 8, 2018 10:34 pm

MORGANTOWN ? Two inmates at North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County have been diagnosed with Hepatitis A, according to the Monongalia County Health Department.

Others at the jail are showing symptoms.

Officials with the Doddridge County Health Department coordinated efforts Saturday to collect 874 doses of Hepatitis A vaccine. Those vaccines came from the Monongalia County Health Department (500), Marion County Health Department (140), Harrison County Health Department (134) and Preston County Health Department (100)...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.wvnews.com/theet/news/he...14b140d66.html


Hepatitis A outbreak reaches Harrison County, another case confirmed in North Central Regional Jail
by JoAnn Snoderly STAFF WRITER 25 min ago 0

CLARKSBURG ? The multi-state outbreak of hepatitis A has reached Harrison County and a previously pending case at the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County has been confirmed, according to public health professionals.

?I can confirm that we?ve had three reported cases" of hepatitis A in Harrison County, said Donna Riffle, registered nurse and nurse director for the Harrison-Clarksburg Health Department.

"Those have been and are being investigated," she said...

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.wvpublic.org/post/appalac...break#stream/0

Appalachia Continues to Struggle with Hepatitis A Outbreak
By Kara Leigh Lofton ? 6 hours ago

The infectious liver disease hepatitis A has hit Appalachia hard during the past several months. But your risk of contracting the disease depends on several factors.

?So it?s very important to understand that there are certain groups of people that are at increased risk, as opposed to the general population,? West Virginia commissioner of public health Rahul Gupta said.

Up until this point, the outbreak in West Virginia has mostly affected people who are using illicit drugs (both injection and non-injection), people who are homeless or mobile, and those who have been recently incarcerated.

Basically, hepatitis A, a contagious liver infection, is transmitted by food, water, or personal contact with an infected person. But unlike its cousins hepatitis B and C, hepatitis A is not transmitted by needles and it does not cause long-term liver damage, nor does it become chronic. But it can make you very sick -- mimicking major flu symptoms and making the afflicted jaundiced.

?We?re seeing that a little over 50 percent or a little over half of the population who exhibits symptoms are having to be hospitalized,? Gupta said...

...Since March 2018, West VIrginia has seen 1,318 cases -- about half of which are in Kanawha County. By comparison, in 2017, West Virginia reported six cases of acute hepatitis A...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/h...afdda2925.html


Cabell officials say hepatitis A outbreak has peaked
By Bishop Nash The Herald-Dispatch 9 hrs ago

HUNTINGTON ? Cabell County?s hepatitis A outbreak appears to be two months past its peak as the frequency of local cases continues to decline gradually, according to the Cabell-Huntington Health Department.

The county, with 216 confirmed cases, has consistently ranked second statewide behind Kanawha County and its current 644 cases, which alone account for nearly half of West Virginia?s 1,318 hepatitis A diagnoses. The recent outbreak, which began locally in March, has contributed to at least two deaths in West Virginia.

?We?re still seeing more cases than we normally should, but the frequency has reduced compared to June and July,? said Dr. Michael Kilkenny, physician director at the Cabell-Huntington Health Department. ?It appears the peak of the epidemic occurred in July and has been gradually reducing since, but it is far from over.?

The decline, however, gives no indication of when the number of new hepatitis A cases will return to more typical levels, Kilkenny said. Cabell County had not had a diagnosed case in the past five years, but at its peak averaged 20 new cases per week through July...