The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) has been investigating an outbreak of acute hepatitis A virus (HAV) over the past year.
As of November 30, 2018, ISDH has reported 698 outbreak cases, including two deaths. Nearly half of the cases required hospitalization. Indiana has an average of 20 cases of hepatitis A per 12 month period.
Cases have been infected with HAV strains genetically linked to outbreaks across the United States.
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Twenty-four counties have reported cases with Wayne (133), Clark (81) and Lawrence (52) counties reporting the most.
As in other states, transmission is presumed to occur person to person; no contaminated commercial food product has been identified.
If you believe you have been exposed to hepatitis A or are homeless, use injection or non-injection drugs, were recently incarcerated, or had contact with someone who has hepatitis A, contact your healthcare provider about hepatitis A vaccine.
To reduce the risk of hepatitis A transmission, people who have not received two doses of hepatitis A vaccine may ask their healthcare providers for protection. Additionally, always wash your hands with soap and water after going to the bathroom, after changing diapers and before preparing meals for yourself and others. Do not attend work or school if you are experiencing symptoms of hepatitis A, which include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, tiredness, stomach ache, fever, dark-colored (cola) urine, light-colored stool and jaundice (yellowing of skin and eyes). Symptoms may take as many as 50 days from exposure to appear.
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