San Diego, in the grip of a hepatitis A outbreak, declared a local health emergency as the virus continues to spread in the homeless population, person-to-person in “a fecally contaminated environment,” per health authorities.
Dr. Wilma Wooten of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency confirmed the emergency as of Friday in a letter seen by NBC News. It’s expected to remain in effect for seven days.
There has been an increase in reported cases of hepatitis A occurring among the homeless population, who are most at risk of contracting the contagious liver infection.
Since last Nov. there have been 378 cases of infection, with 263 incidents of hospitalization and 15 confirmed deaths resulting from the outbreak.
The Public Health Services Division said hepatitis A virus, which is considered to be highly contagious, certainly is mostly prevalent among the homeless and illicit drug users, but some cases have been neither.
“The outbreak is being spread person-to-person and through contact with a fecally contaminated environment,” the division said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention further noted that person-to-person transmission through close contact was the primary cause for the spread of hepatitis A.
According to NPR, the emergency health declaration could see the Health and Human Services Agency receive state funding for new sanitation measures, including portable hand washing stations in areas with higher concentration of homeless people, a concept based on similar projects 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," Wooten told NPR.
"It makes sense that, if they're doing it there and they haven't had any cases, it could be beneficial here as well."
San Diego has relied on vaccinations and awareness campaigns as preventative strategies when dealing with cases of Hepatitis A.
However, ABC News said that despite these measures infection rates have not been slowed down, and death reports increased in the last few weeks.
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