What if I have eaten ‘those Hepatitis A berries’
February 19th, 2015
Hepatitis A virus
We have had numerous phone calls to the clinic regarding the media reports of persons contracting Hepatitis A from frozen berries in Australia e.g. this one.
It is reported the berries were packed in a polluted river in China.
This highlights how global our food sources have become, and even if we are not travelling, our FOOD may be travelling, and that could put us at risk.
In some states of the USA, Hepatitis A vaccine is part of the routine childhood vaccines but this is not the case in Australia. In Australia we vaccinate babies against Hepatitis B but not A.
Hepatitis A is a disease caused by a virus. It is contracted when the faeces of an infected person gets into our food. It is a common disease in less developed parts of the world. It is rarely fatal but more serious in persons over the age of 40. More info here on Hepatitis A from the CDC.
Travellers who have visited our clinic will have have been vaccinated against Hepatitis A.
- If you have had two Hepatitis A vaccines 6 months apart….you are covered…. you will have LIFETIME protection from Hepatitis A.
- One Hepatitis A vaccine is NOT enough protection to give lifetime cover. Just have the booster now.
Even if your first dose of vaccine was more than one year ago, it is not ‘ too late’. You DO NOT have to start the course again. Even if you have not eaten those berries, if you have not finished your Hepatitis A vaccine course, it would make sense to finish the course.
If you have lost your Hepatitis A vaccine records ( and did not have the Hepatitis A vaccine through us, as we keep all our records ) it is safe to have extra doses of the vaccine…. then you may want to consider getting the vaccine record app to keep your vaccines records handy on your phone.
