SACO, Maine — The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) has identified a case of acute hepatitis A virus infection in a Saco food service worker.
The individual handled food at Sea Salt Lobster Restaurant while infectious from May 12 through May 23. An assessment of the employee’s illness determined that restaurant patrons may be at risk for hepatitis A infection.
The Maine CDC recommends that anyone who may have eaten food prepared at Sea Salt Lobster Restaurant and/or worked at the restaurant on May 22 and May 23 receive hepatitis A vaccine by Saturday, June 6. There is a 14-day window during which prophylaxis is effective after exposure. This includes anyone who may have had take-out, delivery or curbside pickup of food from the restaurant.
Anyone who visited the restaurant from May 12 through May 21 is outside the window for which prophylaxis is recommended but should watch for symptoms and seek medical attention if symptoms develop. People with compromised immune systems or children younger than one year old who visited the restaurant during this time may benefit from hepatitis A immune globulin (IG), upon consultation with their health care providers.
The best way to prevent hepatitis A infection is to get vaccinated.
Here is how the Maine CDC describes hepatitis A:
Hepatitis A is a vaccine-preventable, contagious liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. Symptoms range from mild illness to a severe sickness that requires hospitalization and can last several months. Most adults with hepatitis A have a sudden onset of symptoms such as tiredness, low appetite, stomach pain, nausea, dark urine, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes). Most children younger than 6 years old do not have symptoms or have an unrecognized infection.
Hepatitis A can be spread through contaminated food or water, especially in food prepared by a person who is infected. Symptoms begin to show 15-50 days after exposure to the virus. An infected person can spread the virus to others approximately two weeks before symptoms start until one week after symptoms end.
More information on the infection can be found HERE.
Public health authorities in Maine say the number of reported cases of hepatitis A in Maine climbed by dozens last year.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that reported cases of the disease rose from nine in 2018 to 45 last year. A dozen of those cases were linked to a food-borne outbreak in Aroostook County in the northern part of the state.
Another 12 cases were in Kennebec County and six were in York County.
