Ohio Experiencing Increase in Number of Reported Cases of Hepatitis A
According to the Ohio Department of Health, the state of Ohio is experiencing an increase in the number of reported cases of hepatitis A since January 2018. Currently, Ohio has 31 cases, reported in the first quarter of 2018. This is higher when compared to four cases in 2017, two in 2016, and five in 2015, for this same time period. Hepatitis A outbreaks are occurring in multiple states across the US, including several bordering Ohio (i.e. Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan). Some Ohio cases are associated with outbreaks in neighboring states. Outbreaks have been linked to the following risk factors: contact with a known hepatitis A case; homelessness; IV drug use; and men who have sex with men.
- eating food made by an infected person who did not wash his or her hands after using the bathroom
- drinking untreated water or eating food washed in untreated water
- placing a finger or an object in your mouth that came into contact with an infected person’s stool
- having close personal contact with an infected person, such as through sex or caring for someone who is ill
- being coughed on or sneezed on by an infected person
- sitting next to an infected person
- hugging an infected person
- A baby cannot get hepatitis A from breast milk.
- Persons with direct contact with persons who have hepatitis A
- Travelers to countries with high or intermediate rates of hepatitis A
- Men who have sex with men
- Users of injection and non-injection drugs
- Persons with clotting factor disorders
- Household members and other close contacts of adopted children newly arriving from countries with high or intermediate hepatitis rates.
- dark yellow urine
- feeling tired
- fever
- gray-or clay-colored stools
- joint pain
- loss of appetite
- nausea
- pain in the abdomen
- vomiting
- yellowish eyes and skin, called jaundice