Riverside man diagnosed with hepatitis A connected to San Diego strain
Riverside County health officials said Tuesday that a Riverside man has been diagnosed with the same strain of hepatitis A connected to a deadly outbreak in San Diego County.
The patient has recovered and does not appear to have spread the illness.
Outbreaks have been reported in San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Cruz counties, mostly among homeless populations and IV drug users.
In San Diego County, more than 500 cases and 19 deaths have been reported. In Riverside County, there have been seven hepatitis A cases reported and no deaths so far this year. None of these prior cases was linked to other outbreaks.
While the Riverside patient has worked in San Diego County, Riverside County health officials said he is not homeless and does not use IV drugs. Health officials submitted blood samples from the patient to the state for genotype testing and it was recently confirmed it matched the hepatitis A strain from San Diego County.
“There’s no indication there are other related cases currently, but we are continuing to monitor the state and local situation closely,” said Dr. Cameron Kaiser, public health officer for Riverside County. “If we do detect further cases, the system is already in place to respond quickly and to make sure all our residents stay protected.”
Hepatitis A, a communicable disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), can be prevented by vaccine. Hepatitis A is usually spread when a person ingests the virus from contact with objects, food, or drinks contaminated by feces from an infected person.
It is possible to be infected and show no symptoms, but still be contagious.
Symptoms are: fever fatigue loss of appetite abdominal pain jaundice nausea vomiting. Health officials list ways to prevent transmission of the illness: Practice good hygiene Washing your hands thoroughly after using the bathroom Getting the hepatitis A vaccine
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