The number of hepatitis A cases in San Diego County’s current local outbreak has grown to 507, according to the latest data published Tuesday. This includes an additional fatality bringing the total deaths associated with this outbreak to 19.

Image/Thadius856 via wikimedia commons
Image/Thadius856 via wikimedia commons

Seven out of 10 people affected by the outbreak have required hospitalization for their illness.

In addition, county health officials have released a breakdown of cases by zip code and it shows that 63 percent of hepatitis A cases in this outbreak are within San Diego city limits. This includes 81 cases identified in the 92101 Zip code, which includes downtown and some surrounding areas (see map for more info).

Vaccination efforts are underway targeting at-risk groups by County public health and our community health care partners. Because of the outbreak, the hepatitis A vaccine has now been recommended for people who are homeless, illicit drug users, staff at homeless service providers and substance use treatment agencies, public safety and emergency workers, health care workers and sanitation workers. As of Tuesday, 75,936 vaccinations have been administered.

On Sept. 1, 2017, the San Diego County public health officer declared a local public health emergency due to the ongoing hepatitis A outbreak in the county and last week, Gov. Jerry Brown issued an emergency proclamation that allows the state to increase its supply of hepatitis A vaccines in order to control the current outbreak.

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