The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department has confirmed a case of Hepatitis A in a food service worker at O’Charley’s at 70 RHL Boulevard in Charleston. This is the third Kanawha County investigation involving a food establishment since the Hepatitis A outbreak began in February.
The employee did not continue working at the restaurant after the Hepatitis A diagnosis but did work during the infectious period prior to diagnosis, April 27 – May 11. As a precaution, members of the individual’s family and coworkers have received Hepatitis A immunizations, according to CDC protocols.
Members of the KCHD outbreak team, which includes multiple health professionals from the Divisions of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, met with O’Charley’s officials to review restaurant food handling practices. Inspectors were on site at the establishment and spent time talking with employees and observing food handling procedures.
After review, Stanley Mills, director of environmental health services, identified no unsafe food handling practices warranting the health department issuing a warning to restaurant patrons suggesting immunizations because of possible exposure. The public transmission risk is low.
According to Janet Briscoe, director of epidemiology, public transmission by a food handler is uncommon if restaurant employees follow proper handwashing requirements and wear gloves. Food handlers are not at increased risk for Hepatitis A because of their occupation unless they have identified risk factors or personal contact with a person who has risk factors. Several Hepatitis A cases have occurred in households where family members had close association.
Although transmission risk is extremely low, the health department recommends patrons who consumed food or drink at O’Charley’s from April 27 – May 11 monitor for Hepatitis A symptoms. These include abdominal pain, dark urine, fatigue, fever, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), light-colored stools, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting. If symptoms occur, seek medical attention.
Most adults have not been vaccinated for Hepatitis A. In 2006, the vaccine was added to the recommended vaccine schedule but is not a West Virginia school entry requirement. Only children attending preschool in West Virginia are required to be vaccinated for Hepatitis A.
West Virginia has been identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of a multistate Hepatitis A outbreak, joining other states including California, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Utah. Transmission in cases in these states has been by person-to person contact occurring primarily among persons who are homeless, persons who use injection and non-injection drugs and their close direct contacts.
In Kanawha and Putnam counties, more than 80 cases of acute Hepatitis A have been investigated by the health department. According to Briscoe, the Bureau for Public Health is providing free Hepatitis A vaccine for outbreak counties. Local health departments can use this vaccine for high-risk groups that include close personal contacts of persons diagnosed with Hepatitis A, drug users and the homeless.
The health department screens for insurance eligibility before using the state-supplied vaccine. KCHD has provided on-site vaccination clinics at local shelters and soup kitchens throughout the Kanawha Valley and is in the process of identifying Putnam County locations serving targeted high-risk populations. Groups serving the high-risk populations may contact the health department to schedule vaccination clinics.
Additional information can be found on the health department website www.kchdwv.org or by calling the health department at 304-348-1088.