Hepatitis

An outbreak of hepatitis A in Anchorage, Alaska, has been traced to flavored slush drinks served by a convenience store there.The slush-flavoring mixture was prepared in a bathroom by a worker who had been exposed to two other people with the highly infectious virus, according to a study published in the June issue of the Western Journal of Medicine.Employees who serve slushes at gas stations, movie theaters and convenience stores, who are not required to regularly wash their hands, should take extra care to do so often to avoid spreading the virus to those who drink the summer refreshments, said Dr. Michael Beller of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

For the first time, researchers have used a vaccine to completely prevent the spread of hepatitis A, a sometimes deadly liver infection. Hepatitis experts said the vaccine was a major advance against the disease, which afflicts tens of thousands of Americans and can kill in its most virulent form. The vaccine was tested in 1,037 children in the Kiryas Joel community in Monroe, N.Y. This community of Hasidic Jews has been plagued by rampant hepatitis A infections. Half the children were given the vaccine and half were given a dummy injection.

State and federal health officials are still investigating a suspicious cluster of hepatitis C infections in the Baltimore area and have temporarily shut down a specialized Timonium pharmacy that might be linked to the outbreak. Officials at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene would disclose few details yesterday, including the location and number of victims infected with the virus, which kills as many as 10,000 people in the United States each year. "It's still evolving," said Dr. Diane Matuszak, acting deputy secretary for public health services, who is leading the investigation.

Overwhelmed by public response to a case of hepatitis A at an Eldersburg fast-food restaurant, Carroll County health officials have ordered additional doses of an antibody that helps prevent the liver disease.About 300 people lined up during the first two hours of an impromptu clinic yesterday to receive free shots of immune globulin (IG). On Thursday, 1,118 people received shots at Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville, health officials said."We had to order more vaccine as a margin of safety," said Dr. Janet Neslen, the county's deputy health officer.

Anne Arundel County health officials are suggesting that recent patrons of Jillian's Sports Cafe in Arundel Mills mall contact the Health Department because a restaurant worker tested positive this month for hepatitis A. Customers who drank beverages with ice or freshly cut lemons at the restaurant between Dec. 4 and Dec. 15 are advised to consider receiving a shot of immune globulin, which confers protection against hepatitis infection if administered within...

A fast-food restaurant chain has paid the bill for a health crisis that led to hepatitis A inoculations in Carroll County for more than 2,000 people.Wendy's Restaurants has reimbursed the county Health Department for $32,662 worth of immune globulin administered at a two-day clinic in September, after an employee of the company's Eldersburg restaurant tested positive for the contagious virus."

The second-graders sat in rapt attention as the drama unfolded, performed by a pair of infection-control nurses with colorful hand puppets at General Wolfe Elementary School near Fells Point.The white puppet, "Annie," was late for breakfast, and almost had forgotten to wash her hands that morning.Luckily, she'd remembered after all -- because "Germie" was lying in wait, a horned, green meanie ready to spread germs that could make Annie's head hurt or her stomach ache.And when the show was over, the children dutifully trooped to the classroom sink to practice washing their hands, under the nurses' watchful eyes.

Officials at Maryland General Hospital said yesterday that they will offer free retesting to any patients who were tested for HIV or hepatitis C at the hospital during a 14-month period ending in August of last year. Lee Kennedy, a spokesman for the hospital, said the offer was made to address concerns about the reliability of tests that were performed on an analyzer known as a Labotech. The equipment is no longer being used, and state and hospital officials have determined that about 460 HIV and hepatitis C test results obtained from the machine never should have been sent out. Though Kennedy said he did not know how many additional patients would be eligible for the free tests, the numbers are likely to be in the thousands.

Two scientists whose work helped virtually eliminate the risk of transmitting hepatitis viruses through blood transfusions were among six winners of this year's Albert Lasker medical research awards being announced today. The two are Dr. Harvey Alter of the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Michael Houghton of the Chiron Corp. in Emeryville, Calif. Alter leads a project that NIH created many years ago to discover the causes of hepatitis that followed transfusions. Houghton led a team that discovered the hepatitis C virus in 1989.