In a follow-up on the hepatitis A outbreak in the Czech Republic, the State Health Institute (SZÚ) reports the disease is spreading widely, seeing numbers not seen in decades.
Through September, SZU has registered 1,776 cases of Hepatitis A, the highest number since 1996.
Since March, the number of infections has been increasing steadily – in August, 295 new cases were reported, and in September already 428.
The capital city of Prague accounts for almost 40 percent of the total cases nationally.
In addition, health officials have reported 21 deaths related to Hepatitis A, five of them in September alone.
“Most deaths occurred in people with risky behaviour and chronic liver disease,” explained Kateřina Fabiánová, Deputy Head of the Epidemiology Department at the SZÚ.
“In these patients, the course of viral Hepatitis A can be severe or even fatal. The risk increases with age and is significantly higher in people with weakened immune systems or existing liver disease.” Last year, only two deaths were reported.
Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus. It can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a severe illness lasting several months. Symptoms of hepatitis A include fever, weakness, fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes), stomach pain, vomiting, dark urine, pale stools, and diarrhea.
Although rare, hepatitis A can cause death in some people. Hepatitis A usually spreads when a person unknowingly ingests the virus from objects, food, or drinks contaminated by small, undetected amounts of stool from an infected person.
Vaccination is the best way to prevent disease. Infection can be prevented by vaccination after a known exposure to a person with infectious hepatitis A.