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El Paso County has 43 of 52 confirmed cases of hepatitis A in Colorado, confirmed Thursday the state's Department of Health.
Among people infected with the highly contagious disease in El Paso County, 93% had used illegal drugs, 61% were homeless and 23% had been incarcerated within six months of their diagnosis, the department reported. Public Health District of El Paso. Nearly two-thirds were hospitalized with the disease.
"People affected by this epidemic may have less access to health care and greater health risks," said Nicole Comstock, deputy director of the communicable diseases division at the Department of Public Health and Health. Colorado environment.
"Poor nutrition, living in overcrowded places such as shelters and jails, limited access to facilities to maintain personal hygiene, and limited access to preventative health care unfortunately make the spread of the disease more likely. "
The concentration of the disease in the county is a localized epidemic, said Kimberly Pattison, head of the public health communicable disease control program in El Paso County.
"Although we have more cases than other countries, this is what we expect from the epidemiology of person-to-person spread," she said, adding that current cases hepatitis A in El Paso County have spread. among people in close contact with each other. This contrasts with regional outbreaks of food contamination, for example.
Hepatitis A cases in Colorado counties
Douglas: 1 *
El Paso: 43
Fremont: 6
Pueblo: 2 *
* The cases originate from other places but have been diagnosed in this county.
The epidemic, which has killed no one, is spread by the ingestion of faeces, for example by not washing one's hands after using the toilet.
County and State Health Officers spent about $ 63,000 fighting the outbreak by vaccinating vulnerable populations in late fall and early winter. At the time, in El Paso County, only eight people had confirmed cases of illness, which could cause liver damage.
Symptoms can take between two weeks and two months to manifest. They include jaundice, fatigue, severe abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhea.
Pattison said the county is studying prevention strategies that have worked well in other parts of the country. For example, the counties of San Diego and Salt Lake have sent nurses on foot to administer vaccines to target groups. The disease has killed 20 people in San Diego County and three in Utah, according to the websites of state health departments.
Hepatitis A is usually less serious than another form, hepatitis C, which is most often spread by contact with the blood of an infected person.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that hepatitis A is rarely fatal and does not cause chronic infection, but hepatitis C becomes a chronic long-term infection for 70% to 85% of infected people. In 2016, 18,153 US death certificates had reported hepatitis C as the underlying or contributing cause of death, but this is a conservative estimate, says the CDC. There is also no vaccine for hepatitis C, although it can be treated with a combination of antiviral drugs.
In the United States, hepatitis A rates have decreased by more than 95% since the vaccine was marketed in 1995, says the CDC.
Utah said the two-year outbreak ended in February. The California Chamber, known as the State Assembly, unanimously approved a bill to make local governments more proactive in outbreaks of communicable diseases.
El Paso County Public Health works closely with Penrose Hospital, City and County Prisons, UCHealth and Homeless Serving Agencies to facilitate access to vaccines. Clinics have been set up at Marion House, the Westside Cares Rescue Mission and Springs.
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