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County declares health emergency for hepatitis outbreak


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2017 Sep 2, 2:42pm   1,917 views  6 comments

by Blurtman   ➕follow (2)   💰tip   ignore  

San Diego County declared a local health emergency early Friday night, adding a new level of urgency to a hepatitis A outbreak that has hit the homeless population hardest, killing 15 people and hospitalizing hundreds.

Dr. Wilma Wooten, the region’s public health officer, signed the declaration shortly after lawyers finished writing it, bolstering the county Health and Human Services Agency’s ability to request assistance from the state and providing legal protections for a slate of actions that began unfolding across the city earlier in the day.

Working on a county contract, a private company began delivering portable hand-washing stations Friday morning in locations where homeless residents tend to congregate. Twenty stations were in place by the end of the day and 20 more, a county spokesman said, were scheduled for installation Saturday.

That effort is to be followed by street-cleaning crews shooting high-pressure water spiked with bleach to remove “all feces, blood, bodily fluids or contaminated surfaces,” according to a sanitation plan included in a letter delivered to city government Thursday.

The cleansing plans, Wooten said, are modeled on similar efforts used to control hepatitis A infections in Los Angeles.

“We know that L.A. has had no local cases of hepatitis A related to the strain that we’re seeing here in San Diego,” she said. “It makes sense that, if they’re doing it there and they haven’t had any cases, it could be beneficial here as well.”

It has been clear for some time that the local outbreak is far beyond ordinary. With 379 cases confirmed to date, it’s the largest surge seen in at least 20 years.

The first cases linked to the outbreak occurred in November 2016, but there weren’t enough of them until about May for local epidemiologists to know for sure that infections were spreading more quickly than usual. Most hepatitis A outbreaks are associated with specific foods picked or processed under unsanitary conditions. The virus that causes the condition lives in human feces and is spread when people don’t wash their hands thoroughly enough after using the bathroom.

From the outset, the public health response to the outbreak has been vaccination and education. Though thousands of doses of vaccine have been distributed to date, that effort has not appreciably slowed infection rates while the number of deaths reported in recent weeks has accelerated.

Because infections are most common among the homeless who often have no access to sanitary facilities, the county’s efforts began to turn toward hand washing and street cleaning in early summer.

But that transition has been painfully slow.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/sd-me-hepatitis-emergency-20170901-story.html

#HepHepHooray

Comments 1 - 6 of 6        Search these comments

1   FortWayne   2017 Sep 2, 4:53pm  

Blurtman says
A outbreak that has hit the homeless population hardest, killing 15 people and hospitalizing hundreds.


Well, that seems like "working as nature intended".
2   Strategist   2017 Sep 2, 5:01pm  

Blurtman says
That effort is to be followed by street-cleaning crews shooting high-pressure water spiked with bleach to remove “all feces, blood, bodily fluids or contaminated surfaces,” according to a sanitation plan included in a letter delivered to city government Thursday.


Disgusting. This happens because we tolerate homeless people.
3   HEY YOU   2017 Sep 2, 5:03pm  

"working as nature intended". That's what I say when your family & friends get sick from any malady.
4   Strategist   2017 Sep 2, 5:06pm  

HEY YOU says

"working as nature intended". That's what I say when your family & friends get sick from any malady.


FortWayne is right isn't he? Those who live dangerously have a lower chance of survival.
5   MisdemeanorRebel   2017 Sep 2, 5:59pm  

"Hey Mang, thanks for that extra pillow mang. You gotta any hand washing stuff?"
"No Mang."
"Weeeel, nevermind ese. Che, my guy at the docks said their gonna unload another cargo of tomatoes bound for Chipotle. We gotta unpack 'em, tomato by tomato, then put them in new crates by hand. You wanna come with me tomorrow, mang?"
"Okay Mang, I just wish my hands didn't smell, but I'll go with you tomorrow."
"Oh, and ese, Fuck Donald Trump, mang."
6   Ceffer   2017 Sep 2, 10:53pm  

The vaccines come in a syringe. The homeless should like that.

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