A food worker at Zayde’s Deli in Shelby County, Tennessee has been diagnosed with hepatitis A and was working while infectious, so may have exposed customers to the virus, according to a notice from the Shelby County Health Department. The restaurant in located at 6560 Poplar Avenue in Memphis.
Anyone who consumed food or drink at Zayde’s Deli or ate take-out meals from the restaurant between June 29, 2021 and July 7, 2021 may have been exposed to the virus. If you ate there on June 30, 2021 or later, you are still eligible to get a hepatitis A or immune globulin vaccination, but if you ate there on June 29, 2021, it’s too late for a shot. All you can do is monitor yourself for the symptoms of hepatitis A. You may want to check with your doctor to see if he or she thinks a vaccine would still be effective.
You can get shots at your doctor’ office, or at one of the Heath Department’s vaccine clinics that are listed at the Shelby County Health Department website. No appointment is necessary, but you can call the appointment line at 901-222-9980 for more information, or the Health Department at 901-222-9243. The Health Department is offering the vaccine free of charge to anyone who may have been exposed at this restaurant.
Vaccinations are only effective if given within two weeks of exposure. And since a person can be ill for two weeks without symptoms, they can easily spread the virus, which is very contagious.
Hepatitis A is transmitted through person-to-person contact, through contaminated food and drink, and through contact with contaminated surfaces called fomites. Symptoms of hepatitis A include abdominal pain, especially in the upper right quadrant, nausea, vomiting, fever, weight loss, lethargy, loss of appetite, clay colored stools, diarrhea, dark urine, and jaundice, which is yellowing of the skin and eyes.
