State health officials are planning two more hepatitis A vaccination clinics in an ongoing effort to combat an outbreak of the disease in Bartholomew County.
The first clinic will be 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Ninth Street Park, located at 1023 Ninth St. in Columbus. The second clinic will be July 27 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Community Downtown Block Party, located on Seventh Street between Franklin Street and Lafayette Avenue.
The two vaccination clinics are the latest in a series of clinics held by state and county health officials after two restaurants reported that an employee was infected and had worked at the restaurants while sick.
Hepatitis A is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable viral liver infection that can cause loss of appetite, nausea, tiredness, fever, stomach pain, brown-colored urine and light-colored stools.
The virus spreads when a person unknowingly ingests the virus from objects, food or drinks contaminated with infected fecal matter. This often happens when an infected person fails to wash his or her hands adequately after using the bathroom or engages in behaviors that increase the risk of infection, the health department said.
Last week, Bartholomew County and state health officials administered 100 hepatitis A vaccines at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fair, said Amanda Organist, director of nursing at the Bartholomew County Health Department.
Since Nov. 1, 2017, there have been 3,474 hepatitis A vaccines administered in the county — 260 more than on July 2, according to state health records.
As of Wednesday, there have been 1,744 confirmed cases of hepatitis A in Indiana — including 44 in Bartholomew County, according to data from the Indiana State Department of Health.
Typically, Indiana sees around 20 cases per year, according to the Indiana State Department of Health, while Bartholomew County typically has one to two cases per year, health officials said.
The outbreak has killed four people in Indiana and resulted in 950 hospitalizations across the state since Nov. 1, 2017, according to state figures. No deaths linked to hepatitis A have been reported in Bartholomew County.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Upcoming clinics” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Tuesday: 5 to 6 p.m. at Ninth Street Park, located at 1023 Ninth St.
July 27: 6 to 9 p.m. at the Community Downtown Block Party, located on Seventh Street between Franklin Street and Lafayette Avenue.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
