Hepatitis A Cases Among Food Handlers: A Local Health Department Response-New York City, 2013.
During 2013, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) received reports of 6 hepatitis A cases among food handlers. We describe our decision-making process for public notification, type of postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) offered, and lessons learned. For 3 cases, public notification was issued and DOHMH offered only hepatitis A vaccine as PEP. Subsequent outbreaks resulted from 1 case for which no public notification was issued or PEP offered, and 1 for which public notification was issued and PEP was offered too late. DOHMH continues to use environmental assessments to guide public notification decisions and offer only hepatitis A vaccine as PEP after public notification but recognizes the need to evaluate each situation individually. The PEP strategy employed by DOHMH should be considered because hepatitis A vaccine is immunogenic in all age groups, can be obtained by local jurisdictions more quickly, and is logistically easier to administer in mass clinics than immunoglobulin.
Division of Disease Control (Drs Ridpath, Layton, Misener, Varma, Zucker, and Balter and Mss Reddy and Waechter), Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response (Ms Scaccia and Mr Starr), and Division of Environmental Health (Ms Stavinsky), New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, New York; and Epidemic Intelligence Service, Division of Scientific Education and Professional Development (Dr Ridpath), National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (Dr Varma), and National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases (Dr Zucker), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Alison
A
Ridpath
Vasudha
V
Reddy
Marcelle
M
Layton
Mark
M
Misener
Allison
A
Scaccia
David
D
Starr
Faina
F
Stavinsky
Jay K
JK
Varma
HaeNa
H
Waechter
Jane R
JR
Zucker
Sharon
S
Balter
D003657:Decision Making; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D005522:Food Services / Q000592:standards; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D022362:Hepatitis A Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D009111:Local Government; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D056990:Post-Exposure Prophylaxis; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000078329:Workforce
D022362:Hepatitis A Vaccines