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August 6, 2001

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“Food Workers at Front of Hepatitis A Debate”

Orlando Sentinel (www.orlandosentinel.com) (08/05/01) P. H1;

Jackson, Jerry W.

Recent hepatitis A outbreaks in Orlando, Fla., have resurfaced the debate over whether food handlers should be vaccinated against the disease.  The restaurant industry maintains that a widespread mandatory vaccination program would cost too much, be too difficult due to high employee turnover, and would be misdirected since relatively few hepatitis A cases are linked to restaurants.  However, major Central Florida hospitals have already begun their own employee-immunization programs.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says restaurant workers need not be routinely immunized, as food-borne outbreaks only account for 3 percent of U.S. cases in which the source is identified.  The CDC added that most cases are derived from day care centers, homes, and people traveling to and from developing countries.  Nationwide, children are the main carriers of the disease and should be the focus of immunization efforts, the CDC said.

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.