Local health officials warn of possible increase of Hepatitis A

Local health officials warned of a possible influx of Hepatitis A (HAV) in the region at the Jan. 17 Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors work session. 

“In light of the coming Caesars casino to the City of Danville, we expect to see a possible uptick of hepatitis A cases with an increase in mobile traffic, such as those associated with the casino. This could potentially affect food workers, sanitation workers, tattoo artists and more,” said Krystal Davis, business manager at the Virginia Department of Health.

Virginia is one of nine states in the country that has an ongoing outbreak of HAV, with 556 cases in the state according a Center for Disease report for Jan 1 2019 -July 22, 2021. 

“Hepatitis A has become a severe problem in the southwest of Virginia,” said Julia J Gwaltney, a public health nurse manager with the health department. Since 2019 Pittsylvania County has enjoyed a low rate of the virus, with only two known cases, compared to like Virginia Beach, with 52 cases of HAV and in the Mount Rogers area with 155 cases. 

However, due to increased traffic to the county, that will not be the norm, according to Pittsylvania-Danville & Southside Health Districts Director Scott Spillmann.

“Our society is more mobile, especially along primary travel routes such as interstates. As with many infectious diseases, over time, it can and often does spread along other routes, including more rural geographies,” Spillmann said in an email.

If infected, symptoms include yellow skin or eyes, lost in appetite, stomach pain, and fever, among others. If symptoms develop, they usually appear two to seven weeks after infection. According to the CDC, symptoms typically last less than two months, although some people can be ill for as long as six months. 

Not everyone with hepatitis A has symptoms. Adults are more likely to have symptoms than children. Gwaltney said that the fecal-oral route can quickly spread HAV from one individual to another. 

“You cannot be assured 100% that (a server is) going to wash their hands completely before they come back to prepare your food. If they haven’t washed their hands very well, they come back and fix you a nice salad or some other food. Well, guess what? You might have been exposed to hepatitis A.” Gwaltney said.

HAV is very contagious; people can even spread it before they feel sick. 

For HAV, vaccination is the primary way to prevent or minimize the risk of contracting the disease. Other methods, such as proper hand washing, are crucial as well. There is no specific healthy or unhealthy place for this - only healthy or unhealthy behaviors, explained Spillmann. 

Health officials were looking to the Board for funding to purchase vaccines 

“What we are looking at possibly doing is to get the hepatitis A vaccine and vaccinate some of our healthcare workers dealing with some of these individuals that have hepatitis a, then we want to vaccinate our food handlers and our daycare individuals,” Gwaltney said.

However, Chatham-Blairs District Supervisor Bob Warren explained that if this increase in infection is going to be caused by the casino, then the casino and Danville should pay for it. 

“We don’t get any revenue from Caesars. So if we see an uptick in numbers, we need to reach out to Danville, and we need to reach out to Caesars to ask for assistance in covering an expense created by them,” said Warren.

Caesars did not respond to a request for comment by press time. 

However, Warren explained that if VDH needs to come back to get the funding, they can do so after asking Danville and Caesars to fund the vaccines. “We understand that (VDH) may come back to us and need that funding, and you all (VDH) remind us that we told you to do that if we have an uptick, “ Warren said.