L.I., NY: Possible Hep A exposure at Our Lady of Lourdes Christmas Masses

[Shiloh]

Source: http://massapequa.patch.com/article...osure-at-our-lady-of-lourdes-christmas-masses

Possible Hepatitis Exposure at Our Lady of Lourdes Christmas Masses

Vaccinations available at church Tuesday and Wednesday.
By Edward Robinson | Email the author | 5:13pm


The Nassau County Health Department issued a warning Monday that parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes Church may have been exposed to hepatitis A at two Christmas Day masses.

The disease is rarely fatal, but the health department will be administering vaccines or immune globulin to anyone who may have received communion at the 10:30 a.m. or 12 noon masses on Dec. 25, according to a statement released late Monday afternoon...

...Parishioners can receive these treatments from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Our Lady of Lourdes Church School auditorium at 855 Carmans Road in Massapequa Park. The treatments will be administered from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Wednesday...

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: L.I., NY: Possible Hep A exposure at Our Lady of Lourdes Christmas Masses

January 3, 2011​

Potential Hepatitis A Exposure


The Nassau County Department of Health has notified Our Lady of Lourdes Church, located at 855 Carmans Road, Massapequa Park that those individuals who received Holy Communion on December 25, 2010 during the 10:30 am and 12 noon masses were potentially exposed to hepatitis A. Individuals may be at risk if they received communion during the 10:30 am and 12 noon masses on December 25, 2010.

Nassau County Department of Health will offer immune globulin or hepatitis A vaccine to those potentially exposed to hepatitis A. The vaccine will be available:

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - 3 pm to 8 pm
Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - 9 am to 3 pm
Our Lady of Lourdes Church School Auditorium
855 Carmans Road
Massapequa Park, New York​

Hepatitis A is caused by the hepatitis A virus. Hepatitis A virus may be spread by consuming food or drink that has been handled by an infected person. It may also be spread from person to person by putting something in the mouth that has been contaminated with the stool of a person with hepatitis A. Casual contact, as in sitting in church during mass, office or school setting, does not spread the virus.

The symptoms of Hepatitis A may range from mild to severe and include an abrupt onset of fever, fatigue, poor appetite, nausea, stomach pain, dark-colored urine and jaundice (a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes). The disease is rarely fatal and most people recover in a few weeks without any complications. The symptoms commonly appear within 28 days of exposure, with a range of 15-50 days. There are no special medicines or antibiotics that can be used to treat a person once symptoms appear. Generally bed rest is all that is needed. Thorough hand washing after bathroom use and before, during and after food preparation is the most important means to prevent the spread of this and other intestinal illnesses. Sharing of food and utensils should be discouraged especially whenever anyone is ill.

Individuals exposed to hepatitis A should receive immune globulin (IG) or a hepatitis A vaccination within 2 weeks of exposure to a person who is contagious with hepatitis A infection. Individuals who have been vaccinated for hepatitis A or who have had the illness in the past are protected from hepatitis A infections, and there is no need for further action.

For additional information on the potential hepatitis A exposure at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, please call the Nassau County Department of Health at 516.227.9496 between the hours of 9:00 am and 4:45 pm. Additional information on hepatitis A is available on the Nassau County Department of Health web site at http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/Health/index.html

http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/health/NewsRelease/2011/0132011.html

 

[Shiloh]

Re: L.I., NY: Possible Hep A exposure at Our Lady of Lourdes Christmas Masses

Source: http://massapequa.patch.com/articles/more-than-a-thousand-may-have-been-exposed-to-hepa

More Than a Thousand May Have Been Exposed to Hepatitis
Vaccination and treatment to be administered at Our Lady of Lourdes Tuesday.
By Edward Robinson and Chris Boyle

More than a thousand people may have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Christmas Day, health officials said.

"From what we heard, up to 1,300 people may have been at the church," said Nassau County Health Department spokeswoman Mary Ellen Laurain.

The Health Department issued a warning about the virus on Monday and urged parishioners who may have taken comunion wafers at the normally packed 10:30 a.m. and noon holiday masses urging them to receive immune globulin or a hepatitis A vaccine...

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: L.I., NY: Possible Hep A exposure at Our Lady of Lourdes Christmas Masses

Dirty hands likely cause of Long Island hepatitis A outbreak not communion wafers

Submitted by Anissa Ford on 2011-01-04


ABC News Chief Health and Medical Editor tweeted this morning that that the hepatitis A outbreak from a Catholic church was probably caused by dirty hands.

In Long Island, at least 1,000 people could be infected with hepatitis A after Nassau County health officials linked the outbreak with a Catholic Church on the island.
...
The Health department has not released the identity of the infected person. The source of the outbreak could have been a priest, a parishioner, a Eucharistic minister or a parishioner.

Full text:
http://www.huliq.com/10178/dirty-ha...sland-hepatitis-outbreak-not-communion-wafers

 

[Shiloh]

Re: L.I., NY: Possible Hep A exposure at Our Lady of Lourdes Christmas Masses

Source: http://massapequa.patch.com/articles/more-vaccinations-at-our-lady-of-lourdes-2

More Vaccinations at Our Lady of Lourdes

Tainted communion hosts may have been offered at additional masses.
By Edward Robinson | Email the author | 3:42pm

More parishioners than originally thought may have been exposed to the hepatitis A virus at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Massapequa Park, causing health officials to once again offer vaccinations against the disease.

The Nassau County Health Department issued another warning Wednesday, saying that anyone who received communion at the 1:30 p.m. mass Christmas Day or at regular Sunday masses on Dec. 26 at 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., noon, and 1:30 p.m. may also be at risk.

On Monday the health department had warned that those who had taken communion at the 10:30 a.m. and noon masses on Christmas might have been exposed.

Officials will be giving out vaccinations to those who may have been exposed at the church located at 855 Carmans road from 7 a.m. to noon.

Those who can't be there can get the vaccinations for the Nassau County Health Department, but they must call 516-227-9496 for an appointment . The health department is located at 106 Charles Lindbrugh Boulevard in Uniondale.

Health Department spokeswoman Mary Ellen Laurain said that officials learned that unused communion wafers from the batch that had been distributed at the two Christmas masses that had been the subject of the previous warning, may have been offered at the later masses.

"We learned this as a result of re-interviewing people who had been involved in the communion process," she said.