Florida just declared a public health emergency over its ballooning Hepatitis A cases

[jpak]

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article233419627.html

With 56 new cases of Hepatitis A reported statewide in the week since the last reporting period, the Florida Surgeon General declared a public health emergency on Thursday, allowing health officials to test and treat people suspected of carrying the virus.

“I am declaring this Public Health Emergency as a proactive step to appropriately alert the public to this serious illness and prevent further spread of Hepatitis A in our state,” Florida Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees said. “The best way to prevent hepatitis A is through vaccination. It is important that we vaccinate as many high-risk individuals as possible in order to achieve herd immunity.”

The number of reported Hepatitis A cases in Florida in 2019 rose to 2,034 as of July 27, up from the 1,978 cases reported on July 20, the Florida Department of Health said.

The critically impacted counties are Brevard, Citrus, Glades, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Liberty, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Okeechobee, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas, Sumter, Taylor, and Volusia. Most of that area is in Central and Western Florida.

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[jpak]

1. It's a national outbreak

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Florida’s outbreak coincides with a national surge in cases.

Since the Hepatitis A outbreak was first identified in 2016, there have been 22,566 reported cases in 25 states as of July 26, the CDC reports. Of those, 13,352 cases, or 59 percent, resulted in hospitalizations and 221 people died.

According to the CDC, the five states with the highest number of cases are:

Kentucky: 4,793 (As of July 13)

Ohio: 3,220 (As of July 22)

West Virginia: 2,528 (As of July 3)

Florida: 2,220 (As of June 30)

Tennessee: 2.022 (As of July 19)

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[Wounded Bear]

2. and Washington State...

https://q13fox.com/2019/07/30/hepatitis-a-outbreak-declared-in-washington-with-13-cases/