California / Hepatitis A Outbreak 2017

margarita25

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San Diego Hepatitis A Outbreak

"On Sept. 1, 2017, the San Diego County public health officerdeclared a local public health emergency*due to the ongoing hepatitis A outbreak in the county."

http://www.sandiegocounty.gov/conte...hs/community_epidemiology/dc/Hepatitis_A.html

California's deadly hepatitis A outbreak could last years, official says
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-hepatitis-outbreaks-20171006-htmlstory.html

California's Hepatitis A Outbreaks: Why Is the Virus Spreading?
September 21, 2017 04:13pm ET
https://www.livescience.com/60486-hepatitis-a-outbreaks-california.html

California scrambles to contain deadly hepatitis A outbreaks
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/02/california-scrambles-to-contain-deadly-hepatitis-a-outbreaks/

California's hepatitis A outbreak may linger for years, experts say
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-hepatitis-a-outbreak-may-linger-for-years-experts-say/

California Hepatitis A Outbreak Spreads
Hundreds hospitalized in San Diego alone.
https://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/news/20171006/california-hepatitis-a-outbreak-spreads

Possible Good News in San Diego County's Deadly Hepatitis A Outbreak
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...ys-Deadly-Hepatitis-A-Outbreak-450362533.html

Hepatitis death count hits 18 in San Diego outbreak
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/hepatitis-crisis/sd-me-hepatitis-18-story.html

San Diego is struggling with a huge hepatitis A outbreak. Is it coming to L.A.?
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-hepatitis-los-angeles-20170914-htmlstory.html

San Diego Declares Health Emergency Amid Hepatitis A Outbreak
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...es-health-emergency-amid-hepatitis-a-outbreak
 
18 Die From Hepatitis A, Emergency Declaration Extended in San Diego County
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/health/18-Die-From-Hepatitis-A-in-San-Diegos-Outbreak-450284803.html

"The San Diego County Health and Human Services extended the local health emergency declaration and updated the number of people infected with the Hepatitis A virus Tuesday.

Eighteen people have died, and 490 cases have been confirmed as of Oct. 10, according to county officials. Of those cases, there have been 342 hospitalizations."
 
County has spent $3 million on hepatitis A crisis so far
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/data-watch/sd-me-hepatitis-costs-20171009-story.html

"The illness is being transmitted from feces to mouth, so unsanitary conditions make it more likely to spread. In San Diego, where nearly 85 percent of all confirmed cases in California are located, cleaning crews are hitting the streets, shooting high-pressure water mixed with bleach in an effort to sanitize any feces, blood, bodily fluids or contaminated surfaces."
 
Golden Hill residents ask city to close down new homelesscamp
http://fox5sandiego.com/2017/10/12/golden-hill-residents-ask-city-to-close-down-new-homeless-camp/

***********

Homeless women see hope moving into city-sanctioned campsite
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/homelessness/sd-me-homeless-move-20171006-story.html

"San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced the opening of the site last week in response to a hepatitis A outbreak that has disproportionately affecting the homeless, leaving 17 dead and hundreds hospitalized."

********


Fear of crime, Hepatitis A as homeless camp opens
Oct 11, 2017
http://www.10news.com/news/fear-of-crime-hepatitis-a-as-homeless-camp-opens
 
City to post armed guards at downtown portable*toilets
http://fox5sandiego.com/2017/10/10/city-to-post-armed-guards-at-downtown-portable-toilets/

"SAN DIEGO — The City Council Monday ratified a pair of contracts awarded on an emergency basis to provide armed security for portable restrooms and to spray down streets and sidewalks in response to the deadly outbreak of hepatitis A in San Diego."

Snip

"Allstate Security Services was awarded an $80,000 contract to keep the peace around the clock at four port-a-potties placed in areas of San Diego where the homeless congregate. The homeless and/or drug users make up just under two-thirds of the 481 people sickened by the outbreak of the disease.

The council members authorized city staff to extend the contract up to one year, for a total of $933,600.

A one-year contract valued at $1.3 million was awarded to Clean Harbors Environmental Services, which has been spraying down streets and sidewalks with a sanitizing solution in certain San Diego neighborhoods."
 
"San Diego has begun sanitary street washing efforts after county officials demanded the city act on a plan to address the “fecally contaminated environment” downtown. The city and county have been wrestling with a way to address an ongoing hepatitis A outbreak..."

Snip

"Under the new measures, areas with high concentrations of homeless people are set to receive roughly 40 portable hand-washing stations to help combat the disease, which can spread through fecal matter when people fail to thoroughly clean their hands after using the restroom."


San Diego begins 'sanitary street washing' of downtown after pooping homeless people cause deadly hepatitis outbreak
September 12th
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/...eet-washing-to-combat-hepatitis-outbreak.html
 
"The county will keep increasing its efforts to provide the public with vaccinations, sanitation and education, said the county's public health spokesperson Wilma Wooten.

A third of the cases involved people who used illicit drugs and are considered homeless. Of the cases, 25 percent are neither homeless or drug users.

Officials said 68,500 Hepatitis A vaccines have been given by health care systems or pharmacists to date, including nearly 54,000 to people at high risk. Local health care systems, community clinics and pharmacies provided more than 36,000 out of those vaccinations. Mass vaccination events, mobile vans and foot teams handed out about 21,600.

Additionally, local food handlers and at-risk professionals received 10,800 shots."

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/he...titis-A-in-San-Diegos-Outbreak-450284803.html
 
"Meanwhile, the outbreak has spread out of San Diego as infected people travel to new cities. Foster said the CDC has issued a nationwide public health alert because the same strain found in San Diego has sickened people in Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Calif., and now a homeless shelter in Maricopa County, Arizona,*and is linked to patients in Colorado, Utah, and Rhode Island as well. Wooten has been busy fielding calls from fellow public health officers around the country asking what they should do."

An outbreak waiting to happen: Hepatitis A marches through San Diego’s homeless community
OCTOBER 6, 2017
https://www.statnews.com/2017/10/06/hepatitis-a-outbreak-san-diego/
 
"Also*Tuesday, the San Diego Board of Supervisors voted to extend the county's emergency health declaration over the outbreak, which will need to be reviewed and voted on every 14 days."

Snip

"Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced Tuesday more than 600 tons have trash has been cleared from San Diego streets, sidewalks, and riverbeds over the past six months as part of citywide cleanup efforts.

The efforts have grown since the county's Hep A outbreak*began.

"We are taking our efforts to keep San Diego neighborhoods clean and safe to the next level," Mayor Faulconer said. "By removing trash and debris, we are restoring pride in our neighborhoods and removing the unsanitary conditions so that our public spaces can be enjoyed by all.""

San Diego County Hepatitis A death toll rises to 18
http://www.10news.com/news/san-diego-county-hepatitis-a-death-toll-rises-to-18
Oct 10, 2017
 
I wonder why they need armed guards at the portable toilets? Are they vandalized?

I knew nothing about this 'til your posts. I would guess many of these people are already health-compromised. I hope they can get it under control, and other cities take preventive action.
 
Hepatitis A cases surge in southeast Michigan

Karen Bouffard, The Detroit News Published 6:27 p.m. ET Sept. 21, 2017 | Updated 11:43 p.m. ET Sept. 21, 2017

Hepatitis A has continued to spread in southeast Michigan with 319 confirmed cases between Aug. 1, 2016 and Sept. 15 — resulting in 14 deaths, state health officials announced Thursday.

The cases in Detroit and Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe and St. Clair counties represent a 16-fold increase over the same period in 2014-15.

Eighty-one cases were diagnosed last month alone, compared with six reported to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in August 2016.

“The southeast Michigan hepatitis A outbreak remains a top priority for public health officials from both the investigation and prevention standpoints,” Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive for MDHHS, said in a press release Thursday...

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...atitis-outbreak-southeast-michigan/105861554/
 
California declares state of emergency over deadly hepatitis A outbreak
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-deadly-hepatitis-a-outbreak-state-of-emergency-jerry-brown/

"SACRAMENTO --*California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency
Friday due to a lack of vaccines in a deadly hepatitis A outbreak in several California counties,*CBS Los Angeles reports.

The declaration allows the state to "increase its supply of hepatitis A vaccines in order to control the current outbreak," Gov. Brown said in a statement.

While immunizations from the federal vaccine program have been distributed to at-risk populations in affected areas in Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Cruz counties, Brown's proclamation allows the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to immediately purchase and distribute vaccines to affected communities."
 
California declares emergency to fight hepatitis A outbreak
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-of-emergency-hepatitis-a-outbreak/763722001/

"Brown said the federally-funded supply of vaccines is inadequate. His proclamation allows the state to buy vaccines directly from manufacturers and distribute them.

The declaration “allows us to move very swiftly,” Dr. Gil Chavez, epidemiologist at the California Department of Public Health, told reporters. He said the state would place an order Monday or Tuesday and supplies would reach the state soon after."

Snip

"U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa on Friday called on the federal government to provide emergency funding to halt the spread of hepatitis A. He said the outbreak has brought statewide totals to three times the number of reported cases in 2015.

“We cannot wait until more communities are infected and impacted before taking action,” the San Diego-area Republican wrote to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A message seeking comment from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wasn’t immediately returned."
 
"San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob issued a statement about the governor's declaration.

“This is welcome news and allows us to broaden our efforts to attack Hep A here at home. The county has been working closely with state public health officials since the early stages of the outbreak. The governor’s emergency proclamation helps take us to the next level by ensuring an on-going coordinated response and continued access to the vaccine. It allows the county to stay focused on what matters most as we work with others to address this crisis -- vaccination, sanitation and education.”

"Vaccinating people at risk of exposure is the most effective tool we have to prevent the spread of hepatitis An infection during an outbreak,” CDPH Director Karen Smith said."

Snip

"Congressman Darrell Issa Friday sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calling for increased federal aid and expertise, including pathologists, epidemiologists, physicians, and other experts, to control the virus's spread in San Diego County and throughout the state."

Governor Jerry Brown declares state of emergency over Hepatitis A outbreak
http://www.10news.com/news/governor...-state-of-emergency-over-hepatitis-a-outbreak
 
""While San Diego is experiencing the overwhelming majority of current hepatitis A cases, the entire state of California is at risk. A number of counties are already seeing signs of the disease spreading in their communities," Issa's letter read. "We cannot wait until more communities are infected and impacted before taking action.""

http://www.10news.com/news/governor...of-emergency-over-hepatitis-a-outbreak?page=2
 
“"We have the capacity to use as much vaccine as we can get our hands on,” said Dr. Gil Chavez, state epidemiologist with the California Department of Public Health.

The outbreak began in San Diego’s homeless community late last year, but has since spread outside the region. Los Angeles and Santa Cruz counties are also now experiencing outbreaks."

Snip

"Hepatitis A is commonly transmitted through contaminated food. The only U.S. outbreak in the last 20 years bigger than California’s occurred in Pennsylvania in 2003, when more than 900 people were infected after eating contaminated green onions at a restaurant."

Snip

"Hepatitis A is particularly hard to control because people can spread the disease before they have symptoms and even know that they have the virus. The virus itself is also highly contagious and can survive in the environment for a long time once it’s introduced.

Hepatitis A in California

490 cases in San Diego County
71 cases in Santa Cruz County
13 cases in Los Angeles County
7 cases elsewhere in the state"

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-hepatitis-california-20171013-story.html
 
PROCLAMATION OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY



WHEREAS California is currently experiencing the largest person-to-person hepatitis A virus outbreak in the United States since the hepatitis A vaccine became available 22 years ago; and

WHEREAS several counties have declared local outbreaks due to the unprecedented number of hepatitis A virus infections, particularly among persons experiencing homelessness and some illicit drug users; and

WHEREAS vaccinating at-risk populations and improving sanitation are the most effective ways to stop the person-to-person spread of the hepatitis A virus; and*

WHEREAS controlling outbreaks minimizes the risk to the public, maintains the health and safety of the people of California, and limits the health risks to at-risk populations in affected locations; and

WHEREAS the federally-funded supply of vaccines is inadequate to meet the State’s current needs, and therefore, California must directly obtain the vaccine; and*

WHEREAS sustaining the timely and effective local response will require State support to provide adequate vaccines, supplies, and resources; and

WHEREAS under the provisions of section 8558(b) of the Government Code, I find that these circumstances constitute a state of emergency; and

WHEREAS under the provisions of section 8571 of the Government Code, I find that strict compliance with the various statutes and regulations specified in this order would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the outbreak.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the state Constitution and statutes, including the California Emergency Services Act, and in particular, section 8625 of the California Government Code, HEREBY PROCLAIM A STATE OF EMERGENCY to exist in California.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:

1. The California Department of Public Health shall take all measures necessary to obtain hepatitis A vaccines and prioritize the vaccination of at-risk individuals in affected locations.*
2. All drugs and medical supply stocks intended for wholesale distribution shall be held subject to the control and coordination of the California Department of Public Health as necessary to control the hepatitis A outbreak.*

3. Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic licensees in the affected locations shall have the authority to administer the appropriate vaccines to at-risk populations. To the extent that the provisions of Health and Safety Code sections 1797.52 and 1797.21 prohibit Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic licensees from administering the appropriate vaccines to at-risk populations, those statutes are hereby waived.

I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this proclamation be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this proclamation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 13th day of October 2017.

__________________________
EDMUND G. BROWN JR.
Governor of California

ATTEST:

__________________________
ALEX PADILLA
Secretary of State


GOVERNOR BROWN DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY TO INCREASE SUPPLY OF HEPATITIS A VACCINES
10-13-2017
https://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=20017
 

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