NH Hepatitis A Outbreak ‘Accelerating’: DHHS

CONCORD, NH — Officials at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health Services have issued an alert stating that they are concerned with the significant increase in the number of Granite Staters who have been diagnosed with Hepatitis A since late last year. Currently, there are 79 known residents with Hep A in the state. In previous years, less than 10 people annually contracted the disease in New Hampshire.

Hillsborough County has 36 cases, according to officials, the most in the state. Rockingham and Merrimack counties both have 10 cases.

“Hepatitis A is spread by unknowingly getting the virus in your mouth after touching or eating items that are contaminated with small amounts of stool from an infected person,” noted Beth Daly, the chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control at the NH DHHS. “Hepatitis A can also spread from close personal contact with an infected person or caring for someone who is ill.”

It is, however, preventable with “a safe and effective vaccine, which is vital to stopping this outbreak,” she added. People at high risk for infection should talk with their healthcare provider about getting vaccinated, Daly stated.

Anyone can contract Hep A. But there are groups of people that have a greater danger than others of contracting the disease. Those individuals include people with direct contact with others who have contracted it; those who use injection or non-injection recreational drugs, including marijuana; homeless people or those with unstable housing situations, like “couch surfers”; gay and bisexual men; and people with ongoing or close contact with high-risk individuals, according to the NH DHHS.

Symptoms include fever, tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, clay-colored bowel movements, joint pain, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and/or eyes).

Hepatitis A can cause inflammation of the liver while severe infections can result in liver failure and death.

For more information, visit www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/hepatitisa/hepa-nh.htm.