Health authorities in South Australia have revealed that a woman who contracted hepatitis A from a packet of frozen pomegranate arils has died.
Hepatitis A Linked To Recalled Frozen Pomegranate Arils
The product, Creative Gourmet frozen pomegranate arils, was subjected to a voluntary recall in April. Health authorities have also issued alert to urge people who have bought the tainted products to throw them out.
Affected packets of the Egyptian-grown pomegranate arils have already been linked to 24 cases of hepatitis A in the country and the 64-year-old woman's death is the first fatality linked to the nationally recalled product.
Paddy Phillips, South Australia chief medical officer, said that most of those who were sickened made a full recovery. Philips said that the woman died on Wednesday after spending some time at a hospital.
"This is a rare and tragic case and I offer my sincere condolences to the woman's family," Phillips said.
Philips added that no further cases were anticipated since the incubation period for hepatitis A is usually 15 to 50 days and the contaminated product was recalled two months ago.
Nonetheless, he still urged the public to double-check their freezers and remove any recalled product. Arils, the seed pod inside pomegranates, are typically used for smoothies and smoothie bowls.
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus that can spread when a person ingests food or water contaminated with the fecal waste of an infected person.
The disease may cause mild to severe illnesses. Symptoms of infection include fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, joint pain, dark urine, abdominal pain, and jaundice, or the yellowing of the skin and eyes.
People who contract hepatitis A generally feel sick for several weeks but most of them recover completely without lasting liver damage. It is rare for hepatitis A to cause liver failure and death but when it does, these tend to occur in people older than 50 and those with other liver diseases.
Prevention
The best way to prevent contracting the hepatitis A virus, one of the most frequent causes of foodborne infection, is through vaccination.
"Nearly 100% of people develop protective levels of antibodies to the virus within 1 month after injection of a single dose of vaccine," the World Health Organization said. "Even after exposure to the virus, a single dose of the vaccine within 2 weeks of contact with the virus has protective effects."
