An employee at MacKenzie’s Sports Bar and Grille at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, California has been diagnosed with hepatitis A, according to the Sacramento Bee. Anyone who ate food or drank beverages there from September 12 to September 22, 2017 should contact their doctor.
If you ate or drank anything at that restaurant before September 20, 2017 it’s too late to get a hepatitis A or immune globulin vaccination. Those shots are only good for two weeks after possible exposure. All you can do is monitor yourself for the symptoms of this illness. But if you ate there on September 20, 21, or 22, you can get a vaccination.
The virus is spread through fecal matter from an infected person. If that person doesn’t wash their hands well after using the bathroom or preparing food or drinks, they can transmit the virus.
Unfortunately, people are contagious for two weeks before they know they are sick. And some people can be infected and not show any symptoms at all.
Officials do not believe that this case is related to the huge hepatitis A outbreak in Southern California. That outbreak appears to be mostly homeless people and drug users.
The symptoms of a hepatitis A infection include jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin), vomiting, fever, fatigue, nausea, dark colored urine, and clay-colored stools. Most people get sick 15 to 50 days after exposure.
People can be sick for weeks or months with this infection. Most people do recover on their own, but some, especially people with compromised immune systems or liver disease, can become seriously ill.
This illness can be prevented. First, most people should consider getting a vaccination against the disease, particularly if you work with the public in restaurants, schools or daycare, or health care. Second, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after using the bathroom, after changing diapers, and after taking care of someone who is sick, especially with a diarrheal illness.
Stay home from work or school if you are sick. Don’t prepare food or drink for people if you are sick. Talk to your doctor about getting vaccinated. If you have had hepatitis A in the past or have been vaccinated, you are immune to the virus.
