Iowa experienced a 294 percent increase in Hepatitis A cases over the previous three-year period, the state Department of Public Health reports.
According to the annual Iowa Surveillance of Notifiable and Other Diseases report, the Cornhusker State went from a low of 13 Hepatitis A cases statewide in 2006 to 109 cases in 2008.
The uptick represents a 294 percent increase over 2005-2007, the previous three year average. A cluster of cases in southeast Iowa in 2008 was blamed on a restaurant server who continued to work while infected with the liver disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hepatitis A is usually spread when the virus is taken in by mouth from contact with objects, food, or drinks contaminated by the feces (or stool) of an infected persons.
“The best way to prevent the spread of hepatitis A is to practice good hand washing at all times,” said Deb Steffen, community health manager at Floyd Valley Hospital in LeMars, IA.
Steffen’s Plymouth County got through 2008 without a single Hepatitis A case. Nationally, the number of Hepatitis A cases is running at its lowest level in 40 years. A vaccine became widely available after 1995, and it has cut down on incidents of the diseases.