Health center will offer hepatitis shots to food workers

Last month a hepatitis scare broke out when a prep cook could have exposed singer Beyonce Knowles and others to the virus at a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition party. No illnesses have been reported.

Local health officials recommend vaccines for people in food service because someone with hepatitis can appear without symptoms and the virus can be transmitted through food.

"We love the hepatitis A vaccine," said Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center director Charlotte Craig, adding it has no side effects. "We would love restaurants to make it voluntary to take it."

Restaurants will soon have that opportunity at a food school. The Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center offers the 166 establishments that pay restaurant taxes in the county an opportunity to learn about changes in the Missouri food code and improve food safety skills the second Tuesday of every month, but fewer than 10 people typically attend.

While the center recommends restaurant managers go to the food school, they are not required to. The school covers general hygiene tips "from the way food is handled during delivery to when the customer receives his or her plate," said Amy Morris, environmental public health specialist at the health center.

Beginning next month at the food school in the center, nurses will provide hepatitis A and B vaccinations to people in the food industry for free, Morris said.

St. Louis requires a hepatitis vaccination for people in food service, while Cape Girardeau and other area cities do not.

In the six years Morris has worked at the health center she hasn't seen a case of hepatitis in the food industry. "That doesn't mean we won't get one," she said.

The health department annually inspects restaurants, schools, hotels, convenience stores and grocery stores to make sure the establishments have adequate kitchen facilities. Taverns are inspected, too. Inspectors are looking for cleanliness, healthy employees and safe food handling.

Craig said health inspectors examined 416 facilities last year for a total of 820 inspections. No establishment serving food was shut down.

Results of inspections are available to the public on the County Public Health Center Web site at www.cgcohealthdept.com.

'Can't be too cautious'

Janet Wade, manager of Red Lobster, thinks restaurants will be seeing higher standards in food safety worldwide as contamination issues like the E. coli outbreak in spinach last year continue to arise.

"You can't be too sanitary, and you can't be too cautious," she said.

According to Carol Brown, communicable disease coordinator of the county health center, two or three people exposed to hepatitis outside the state were treated in Cape Girardeau within the last four months. The disease never developed.

In 2005, nearly 4,500 cases of hepatitis were reported in Missouri. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about 42,000 cases actually occurred in the state.

An estimated 76 million cases of food-borne disease occur each year in the United States, according to the CDC. Most cases are mild and cause symptoms for only a day or two. However, the CDC estimates 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths related to food-borne diseases occur annually.

The next session of the food school will from 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at 1121 Linden St. in Cape Girardeau. To register, call 335-7846, extension 128.

tkrakowiak@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137