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Monday, October 24, 2011

Hepatitis A Outbreak Ongoing In Estonia

Via NASDAQ, excerpt :

" An outbreak of hepatitis A has been detected in Estonia since the beginning of August 2011, with majority of the cases being reported in Viljandi county, reports Eurosurveillance, an independent European scientific journal.

Hepatitis A, caused by the virus called HAV, causes swelling and inflammation in the liver. It is the most common vaccine-preventable disease in the world and does not become chronic. HAV is spread through food or water contaminated by human waste from an infected person.

The signs and symptoms of HAV infection, which usually last less than 2 months include, fever, fatigue loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, clay-colored bowel movements, joint pain and jaundice.

Between August 4 and October 3 of this year, 71 cases of hepatitis A were notified in Estonia, with 66 confirmed cases of hepatitis A, linked to Viljandi county alone. The outbreak is still ongoing, according to the journal.

Given that there has been no non-compliance of drinking water quality in Viljandi city, contaminated water is ruled out as the source of the outbreak. Therefore the suspected modes of transmission are thought to be environmental exposure and person-to-person transmission."

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