A food worker at Downriver Coney Island in Southgate, Michigan has been diagnosed with hepatitis A, according to the Wayne County Department of Health. That restaurant is located at 13760 Eureka Road. The worker had listed food handling responsibilities at the facility.
The owners immediately had all of their staff members vaccinated. The restaurant was inspected earlier this week and has remained open.
That worker worked at the restaurant January 2 through January 14, 2018. The hepatitis A or immune globulin vaccination is only effective at preventing this illness if given within two weeks of exposure. That means that anyone who visited the restaurant before January 11, 2018 is no longer eligible for a shot. All those people can do is to monitor themselves for the symptoms of hepatitis A.
Those symptoms include jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), lethargy, fever, chills, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, dark urine, and clay-colored stools. Symptoms usually begin 15 to 50 days after exposure to the pathogenic virus. People are symptom-free during the first two weeks that they harbor the virus, and can easily pass it on to others.
The city of Detroit, Michigan is asking all food handlers to get a vaccine. Vaccines are available at doctor’s offices and many pharmacies. The vaccine is also available at the Wayne County Health Department Clinic at 33030 Van Born Road in Wayne, Michigan.
If you visited that facility during the time period stated above, talk to your doctor about your options. If you have had hepatitis A before or have been vaccinated, you should be immune.
Detroit and southeast Michigan have been facing a hepatitis A outbreak for months. Alerts have been issued when food handlers are diagnosed with this illness, since the virus is spread through contaminated food and drink.
This outbreak can be slowed if people who work with the public, such as teachers, food workers, and health care professionals, are vaccinated against the virus. It’s also important that anyone who is sick, especially with a diarrheal illness, stay home from work or school. In addition, careful hand washing after using the bathroom and before preparing food can help limit the spread.
