Catbird
Senior Moderator
This report is almost a week old, but still worth noting, if only as an example of how situations like this can cause countless ripples in the pond of pubic health. .
"Hepatitis A scare at Target pharmacies in Hayward, San Leandro
06/06/2013
Frozen berries from Costco recently linked to hepatitis A cases continued to cause problems this week, when Target stores in Hayward and San Leandro alerted some customers that prescriptions were filled by a technician who may have contracted the disease after eating the berries.
The pharmacy employee, who wasn't identified, was hospitalized with the only reported case of hepatitis A in Alameda County linked to the Townsend Farms berries, and has since been treated and released, said Sherri Willis, spokeswoman for the Alameda County Public Health Department.
The staffer was first diagnosed this week and came into contact with numerous prescriptions while they would have been contagious, estimated to be from May 5 to May 24, officials said.
...According to Willis at the county health department, the threat of contracting hepatitis A is not a concern for every person who gets their prescriptions filled at the pharmacy, and only patients whose prescriptions were filled by the infected employee, who take their medications by mouth, received notification from the pharmacy.
"The risk of exposure, we feel, is low," Willis said. "So we're just being extremely cautious. People who feel they have been exposed or are symptomatic we are advising to see their medical provider."
Though it has not been confirmed that the hepatitis A contracted by the employee is the same strain associated with the berries, the person did consume the Townsend Farms' Organic Antioxidant Blend, a mix of cherries, blueberries, pomegranate seeds, raspberries and strawberries, officials said..."
xhttp://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_23394953/hayward-target-pharmacist-sickened-by-hepatitis-from-costco
"Hepatitis A scare at Target pharmacies in Hayward, San Leandro
06/06/2013
Frozen berries from Costco recently linked to hepatitis A cases continued to cause problems this week, when Target stores in Hayward and San Leandro alerted some customers that prescriptions were filled by a technician who may have contracted the disease after eating the berries.
The pharmacy employee, who wasn't identified, was hospitalized with the only reported case of hepatitis A in Alameda County linked to the Townsend Farms berries, and has since been treated and released, said Sherri Willis, spokeswoman for the Alameda County Public Health Department.
The staffer was first diagnosed this week and came into contact with numerous prescriptions while they would have been contagious, estimated to be from May 5 to May 24, officials said.
...According to Willis at the county health department, the threat of contracting hepatitis A is not a concern for every person who gets their prescriptions filled at the pharmacy, and only patients whose prescriptions were filled by the infected employee, who take their medications by mouth, received notification from the pharmacy.
"The risk of exposure, we feel, is low," Willis said. "So we're just being extremely cautious. People who feel they have been exposed or are symptomatic we are advising to see their medical provider."
Though it has not been confirmed that the hepatitis A contracted by the employee is the same strain associated with the berries, the person did consume the Townsend Farms' Organic Antioxidant Blend, a mix of cherries, blueberries, pomegranate seeds, raspberries and strawberries, officials said..."
xhttp://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_23394953/hayward-target-pharmacist-sickened-by-hepatitis-from-costco
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