Albertans warned of hepatitis A exposure at hotel, school in Nanton

A person with hepatitis A prepared foodearlier this month for a hotel and a school in southern Alberta, the provincialhealth authority says.

The hotel staffer is no longer preparing with food, anAlberta Health Services (AHS) doctor says. That person also helped cook bannock for a school club.

The person prepared food on these dates, AHS has found:

• Jan. 11 and 18 at Auditorium Hotelat 2011 20 Avenue N.W.
• Jan. 17 at JT Foster High School at 2501 22 Street.

Specifically, the infected person assisted with the school's outdoor club, which made bannock together.All the members of the school club have been contactedby AHS.

AHS found out about the exposure late Thursday and issued a public health alert Friday after determining others may have eatencontaminated food.

Dr. Jia Hu isurging people who may have been exposed to call Health Link at 811 and watch for symptoms.

"If you get infected you tend to have some pretty clear symptoms and then it resolves in most people," Hu said, "But in others it can lead to more serious consequences like hospitalization."

Hepatitis A is a liver infection caused by a virus. It's spread by feces and must be digested so for example, if an infected person doesn't wash their hands after using the washroom, the virus can travel onto food to infect others.

Symptoms include tiredness, poor appetite, abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting. Then there may be dark-coloured urine, light-coloured stools and jaundice, which is the yellowing of eyes and skin. Others may not notice any symptoms despite being infectious.

The symptoms can take between 15 and 50 days to appear, so Hu recommends remaining vigilant until March 8.

Those exposed on either Jan. 17 or 18 are still able to take a hepatitis A vaccine, said Hu, medical officer for the Calgary zone. The vaccine can be taken up to 14 days after exposure but he said the Jan. 11 group is likely too far on the outside of that window.

AHS is planning an immunization clinic at the high school and the local community centre, although details are not yet available.

If you do get hepatitis A, it's typically treated by taking fluids and resting, and most people recover without any complications, Hu said.

"Just because you ate, doesn't mean you're definitely going to get hepatitis A," he said. "Alot of people who eat contaminated food do not actually get hepatitis A."

There is no risk to hotel customers or school faculty and students outside of those dates, Alberta Health Services noted. The hotel restaurant has been fully cleaned, inspected and approved as safe to operate by provincial inspectors.

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