Arkansas’ Hepatitis A Battle Expands

The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) is warning of a possible hepatitis A exposure after an employee of the Little Caesar’s Pizza, at 1731 West Kingshighway in Paragould, tested positive for this serious liver virus.

This Little Caesar’s Pizza restaurant is located in Green County, AK, where the majority of hepatitis A cases have been previously reported by the ADH. 

This is important news since food service staff can spread hepatitis A to restaurant staff and customers.

This type of hepatitis virus can cause illness anytime from 2 to 7 weeks after exposure. If infected, most people will develop symptoms 3 to 4 weeks after exposure.

Previously, on June 20th, all Green County residents (19-60 years old) were recommended by the ADH to get vaccinated for hepatitis A.

But, this preventive tactic may not be working fast enough to stop the outbreak.

Since February 2018, the ADH is now reporting 80 hepatitis A cases.

This is not good news when contrasted with the AHD’s June 6th report of only 31 hepatitis A cases. 

This is over a 150 percent increase in confirmed cases.

“There are hep A outbreaks happening across the United States, and some of them currently include hundreds of people,” said Dr. Dirk Haselow, State Epidemiologist, in a press release.

“We have the benefit of being able to look at what other states are doing to help us manage our own outbreak. We believe that taking this step will help curb this outbreak and keep people from getting sick.”

The current hepatitis A outbreak began in Michigan during August 2016.

Hepatitis A is a vaccine-preventable, communicable disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). It is usually transmitted person-to-person through the fecal-oral route or consumption of contaminated food or water, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Currently, the states of Arkansas, California, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia are reporting widespread hepatitis A outbreaks.

Most pharmacies in the USA offer hepatitis vaccines. To request a vaccination appointment, please visit this page.

The CDC Vaccine Price List displays current HAV vaccine contract prices and general information.

And, vaccine discounts can be found here.

Vaccines, like any medicine, can have side effects. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of vaccines to the FDA or CDC.