SEATTLE, WA - At least 8 confirmed cases of hepatitis A have occurred among street youth and injecting drug users in Seattle since the beginning of May, 1999, and Public Health - Seattle & King County is investigating reports of at least 7 additional people ill with possible hepatitis.

Several cases have been among those frequenting a youth center in the University District. Several of the hepatitis A cases involved injection drug users (IDU), particularly those who inject crystal methamphetamine. To date, this cluster of infections has included people with ages ranging from 17 to 43 years.

What is Public Health - Seattle & King County doing to respond to this outbreak?

Mobilizing staff from several public health centers to respond to this outbreak and provide needed services;

Working with homeless service agencies and community clinics to establish hepatitis A vaccination sites for high risk teens and adults in the community;

Increasing efforts to make hepatitis A vaccinations more accessible to street youth;

Supplying these clinics with hepatitis A vaccine for use in this outbreak at no charge;

Offering immune globulin (a preventative medication) to people who have been exposed to cases of hepatitis A within the past 14 days; and,

Distributing posters and flyers in the University District area to advise youth of the outbreak, provide them with prevention advice, and information about where they can go to get immunized.

Facts about Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is a preventable viral infection of the liver, which is unrelated to the hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses. Hepatitis A spreads mostly by the fecal-oral route. The hepatitis A virus may be spread from person to person by sharing virus-contaminated food, drinks, or cigarettes, or by close personal contact (household contact, sex partners) with infected persons.

The incubation period for hepatitis A is 15-50 days. The virus is most contagious in the 1 to 2 weeks before an infected person becomes ill. Symptoms include fever, nausea, abdominal pain, fatigue, dark urine, light colored stool, and yellowing of the eyes and skin (jaundice). The severity of illness increases with increasing age, although the disease does not usually require hospitalization or result in death. Persons with underlying liver disease, including hepatitis C virus infection, are at high risk for serious illness with hepatitis A infection.

Hepatitis A is preventable through vaccination. All people with underlying liver disease including hepatitis C infection, men who have sex with men, injecting drug users and international travelers to areas where hepatitis A is common should be vaccinated against hepatitis A. The vaccine is safe. It is made from a killed virus and is given as a shot in the muscle of the upper arm.

Persons exposed to someone with hepatitis A within the past 14 days can also receive an injection of Immune globulin (IG) to prevent infection. Immune globulin offers short-term protection against hepatitis A infection while the hepatitis A vaccine offers long-term protection.