Hepatitis and the Homeless

Hepatitis A, an extremely contagious liver disease has spread throughout Utah starting in August with over 152 cases so far that originated from San Diego. It is believed to have spread from homeless people as they switched homeless centers between the states.

This type of Hepatitis is spread from contaminated food, water, and sexual contact. Therefore this makes homeless people more likely to get it because of not having access to sanitation says Salt Lake County Health Department spokesman Nicholas Rupp. Places such as Sonic, Olive Garden, and 7-Eleven were known to have employees that were infected and exposing it to hundreds of people as reported by abc news.

This disease can have many symptoms that show up weeks after being exposed such as fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and yellowing of the skin. You can recover from this disease on your own if you are relatively healthy, but otherwise would need to be hospitalized.

So far no deaths have been recorded, but many people are infected and need to immediately speak with health officials if experiencing any symptoms  and get vaccinated as soon as possible. Salt Lake City Health Department wants to contain the disease before it spreads to other states. They are providing education to help people use safer food and water and be safer when sexually active.

Photo By: WebMD