Public health officials in Nashville confirm that a Hepatitis A outbreak has hit the city with a total of 14 known cases of the disease.
The cases, which have been reported over the past five months, marks a significant increase from the city's annual average of two Hepatitis A cases. The Metro Public Health Department is currently working with the Tennessee Department of Health in an effort to put a stop to the outbreak.
Other Hepatitis A outbreaks have also been occurring in several other states since early last year, including in Kentucky and Indiana. The disease is primarily spread among homeless people and those who use drugs.
How You Contract Hepatitis A
Anyone can get infected with Hepatitis A, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the following groups are potentially at a higher risk:
• People with direct contact with someone who has hepatitis A.
• Travelers to countries where hepatitis A is common.
• Men who have sexual contact with men.
• People who use drugs, both injection and non-injection drugs.
• Household members or caregivers of a recent adoptee from countries where hepatitis A is common.
• People with clotting factor disorders, such as hemophilia.
• People working with nonhuman primates.
The health department will begin administering free Hepatitis A vaccines on May 29 at all three health centers to three at-risk groups: illicit drug users, men who have sex with men, and homeless people.
Hepatitis A: What You Should Know
Hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver, and the A variant is a highly contagious infection caused by the Hepatitis A virus. It can cause a person to fall ill from a few weeks to several months. Death from Hepatitis A, while rare, is still known to occur. The disease is typically spread when a person unknowingly ingests the virus from objects, food, or beverages contaminated by small, undetected amounts of stool from a person who's infected.
Per data from the CDC, there were 4,000 Hepatitis A cases in the United States in 2016. Overall, however, cases have declined 95 percent since a vaccine first became available in 1995. It is recommended that those who feel they've been exposed to the virus to act as quickly as possible. Vaccines are typically effective in treating the illness, but only if given within the first two weeks after exposure.
It is not possible to get Hepatitis A twice.
