TWO MORE HEPATITIS CASES CONFIRMED IN BOLLINGER

Two more cases of hepatitis A have been confirmed in Bollinger County.

The two new cases are associated with the previous eight cases that have been diagnosed in that county since early September, said Sara Michie, director of the Bollinger County Health Department. This outbreak has been traced to person-to-person transmission, and none of the cases has been associated with a restaurant or single event, she said.

The two new cases, both children who have not shown symptoms, were having blood drawn Thursday to try to determine if they are still contagious, said Karla Adams, a public health nurse with the Bollinger County Health Department.

The test the children had to diagnosis the hepatitis A shows only that they have had the illness within the past two months. Now a liver enzyme test will be performed to determine if the patients are still contagious, Adams said. The contagious period lasts for three weeks.

Results of the enzyme tests should be available early next week, Adams said. If the children are still contagious, an investigation will be done to find those who may have had contact that would pass along the disease, she said. These people will be given immune globulin, an immune system booster that can prevent an exposed person from developing hepatitis A if given within two weeks of exposure.

If the contagious period was more than two weeks ago, it would be too late to give immune globulin to those exposed, Adams said.

One of the children is school age, though Michie said she could not say which school is involved."As far as we know, no food was taken from home from this case into a school," Adams said.