Camosun students and staff who recently purchased Fairway Market deli items at 2635 Quadra Street are being encouraged by health professionals to get immunized.
An employee in the deli recently tested positive for hepatitis A. Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) and Fairway is advising that anyone who consumed deli food items that weren’t prepackaged on March 18, 19, 20, 22, 25, or 26 get vaccinated immediately.
VIHA says there’s also a small risk of exposure to hepatitis A for anyone who consumed non-prepackaged deli items from March 7-15. But a vaccination at this point wouldn’t be effective, and instead the public should be aware of the symptoms.
“Those risk dates will change within 14 days. For instance, if you ingested non-prepackaged deli items on March 18, a vaccination is not recommended as it would be ineffective,” says VIHA’s medical health officer Charmaine Enns. “If you ingested an item on the 19th, then you should get vaccinated today, because tomorrow will be too late.”
Over 600 people attended the two vaccination clinics held this past weekend. There’s no risk to people who’ve previously had hepatitis A, or have received two doses of the vaccination in the past.
“There’s a concern that both employees and customers came in contact, so vaccination clinics were held over the weekend,” says Fairway spokesperson Robert Jay. “We’ve isolated everything that the employee handled and have taken the proper precautions.”
Symptoms for hepatitis A include abdominal pain, nausea, fever, loss of appetite, vomiting, and tiredness within a few days of exposure, followed by dark-coloured urine, light-coloured stools, and jaundice.
The illness lasts generally two weeks to a month. In more severe cases, that could stretch to several months. It’s possible to be contagious from one to two weeks before symptoms begin.
“For adults, it takes two to six weeks from the day of exposure to know that you’re ill. Then it’s another two to four weeks of illness,” says Enns.
Hepatitis A is a liver infection that’s caused by a virus. The virus is spread through contact with an infected person or by consumption of contaminated food or water. Proper handwashing for 20 seconds with soap and warm water is a good way to prevent spreading the disease.
According to VIHA, this is an isolated incident with this particular location of Fairway Market. Four vaccination clinics are scheduled for this week: Monday-Tuesday, 1-5 pm and Wednesday-Thursday, 1-4 pm at the Victoria Public Health Unit, located at 1947 Cook Street.