 The Rock Island County Health Department, with assistance from the
Illinois Public Health Mutual Aid System, the Illinois Medical
Emergency Response Team and the Illinois Nurse Volunteer Emergency
Needs Team, started the vaccination clinic on Monday and will
continue on Tuesday.Hepatitis A vaccinations and immune globulin
will be administered at no charge to eligible recipients, who meet
the following criteria: consumed food or beverages at McDonald’s
Restaurant in Milan from July 6 through July 10 and July 13 and 14.
(People eating there on July 11 and 12 were not exposed.)
People who consumed products from this restaurant during this
time period will receive either hepatitis A vaccine or immune
globulin, not both.
-
Ages 1-40 years
will receive hepatitis A vaccine.
-
Under 1 year of age, and over 40 years
of age, will receive immune globulin.
If a person has previously received two doses of hepatitis A
vaccine, no further immunization or immune globulin is necessary --
they are already protected from hepatitis A. In addition, if someone
has been ill in the past from hepatitis A, they would not become ill
from it again -- their body would have developed immunity. If a
person receives this vaccine or immune globulin more than 14 days
after they have eaten at Milan McDonald’s, it may not provide
protection.
To date, local health departments have reported 18 confirmed
cases of hepatitis A to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Hepatitis A is a viral infection that causes inflammation of the
liver and occurs 15 to 50 days after exposure to an infected food
item or person. Symptoms may include loss of appetite, fatigue,
nausea, vomiting, dark-colored urine and yellowing of the skin or
the whites of the eyes.
If you have these symptoms, contact your doctor or a medical
professional. However, people who are infected with hepatitis A may
have no symptoms but could still potentially infect others.
"Hepatitis A is a virus that can be carried on the hands of an
infected person who does not wash his or her hands thoroughly after
using the bathroom," Dr. Arnold said. "You can become infected by
direct contact with a person who does not practice good hand hygiene
or by consuming food or drink handled by an infected person. Your
best defense against getting ill or making others ill is to properly
wash your hands -- use soap and warm water and rub your hands for 20
seconds."
Assistance from local health departments for the hepatitis A
outbreak was requested through the Illinois Public Health Mutual Aid
System. This system was created in 2004 in an effort to strengthen
the public health system’s ability to respond to an emergency. Any
local health department in Illinois that has signed an agreement to
be part of the system can request assistance from any other local
health department in Illinois that has signed the agreement.
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Mark Hilliard, director of the Logan County Department of Public
Health, said: "We have sent Shana Bean, our emergency response
coordinator, and Michelle Jason, our public health nursing
supervisor, in response to a mutual aid request via the Illinois
Public Health Mutual Aid System. Notification of the request for 50
nurses and 50 support staff came via e-mail Saturday. The Rock
Island County Health Department is anticipating vaccinating as many
as 10,000 over the next couple of days.
"Shana, in addition to assisting with support services, will be
observing the operation of the mass vaccination clinic, to better
prepare Logan County should we find ourselves in a similar situation
and also to better prepare us for future exercises designed around a
similar event. Michelle, a nurse, will be assisting with the
vaccinations. At the LCDPH these two play critical roles on our
preparedness team. Shana, as our liaison officer/planning section
chief, is charged with establishing and maintaining contact with all
cooperating agencies and directing the Logan County Medical Reserve
Corps, as well as developing and adapting emergency preparedness and
response plans as necessary; while Michelle, as our operations
section chief, is charged with overseeing and coordinating the
dispensing site.
"This response has come at a difficult time with cutbacks
necessitated by the state fiscal crisis. Public health response is
never required at a convenient time, and this event reinforces the
need for adequate funding for public health, specifically the local
health protection grant local health departments receive from the
state of Illinois."
Wendy Trute, administrator for the Rock Island County Health
Department, said: "We are very fortunate to have a public health
mutual aid system in place in Illinois and to have conducted and
participated in full-scale exercises for large clinics in recent
years. Because of this, RICHD has been able to put our pre-existing
plans into action in order to meet the public health needs of our
community quickly. We are very thankful for the outpouring of
additional help from agencies throughout the state of Illinois and
Rock Island County’s community partners throughout the Quad Cities
during this hepatitis A outbreak."
In addition, approximately 25 nurses and support staff from the
Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team and the Illinois Nurse
Volunteer Emergency Needs Team are assisting in the administration
of vaccine and immune globulin. Both teams are volunteer
organizations with all levels of emergency medical personnel as well
as individuals with backgrounds in logistics, communications,
safety, and information technologies. It is their mission to respond
to and assist with emergency medical treatment during emergencies.
For additional information on hepatitis A, go to
www.idph.state.il.us.
[Text from
Illinois Department of Public Health file; Mark Hilliard,
director,
Logan County Department
of Public Health; LDN] |
