HEPATITIS A SHOTS ARE A PUBLIC-HEALTH ISSUE

A proposed law in the Missouri Legislature could prevent outbreaks of hepatitis A, which occurs far too frequently among food-service workers and spreads to unsuspecting diners. But food-industry lobbyists are fighting a requirement to have all food-service workers immunized.

The main thrust of the bill is require more immunizations for young children who attend day-care centers, preschools and nursery schools. Currently, Missouri requires children to get immunizations for polio, rubella, rubeola, mumps, tetanus, pertussis, diptheria and hepatitis B. The shots for hepatitus A and chicken pox would be added to the list.

Immunizations programs have had far-reaching consequences over the years. Anyone old enough to remember the introduction of polio vaccines in the 1950s also is old enough to remember someone who had polio. No one wants to return to the days when infantile paralysis was a threat to every family.

Before mandatory immunizations, whole schools would be hit by contagious epidemics of measles. In fact, immunizations worked so well that there was a period in the 1980s when high school students who thought they were safe from measles suddenly found themselves covered with the telltale red rash. The spotlight was back on required shots, and school officials cracked down.

Hepatitus A is easily passed from one person to another and generally results from poor hygiene, particularly the lack of frequent hand washing by restaurant and fast-food workers who handle food. Given the fact so many of us eat out frequently, it's often difficult to pinpoint the origin of hepatitus outbreaks.

Hepatitus immunizations are effective. The shots are a simple way to avoid the disease. And the shots are clearly a way to remove the worries of an outbreak from restaurant owners and managers. So why are they opposed to the mandatory shots?

The proposed bill would make restaurants and food stores responsible for up to half the cost of treatment if a worker contracts hepatitus A. But these businesses would be exempted from that expense if they required all workers to be immunized as a condition of employment.

It seems like an easy choice that would be so effective at preventing hepatitus outbreaks. Some restaurants already expect their employees to be immunized. A state requirement would be good for the public's health and safety in restaurants just as it is in day-care centers and schools.