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Health
Euan Kerr

Minnesota Health Department continues hepatitis A measures

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Vaccine inventory
In this 2014 file photo, Staff Sgt. Justin Pribble inventories vaccine bottles at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The current hepatitis A outbreak in the U.S. has resulted in tens of thousands of cases, and several hundred deaths. Forty-nine cases have been reported in Minnesota.
Deana Heitzman | Courtesy of U.S. Air Force file

Minnesota Health Department officials say they continue to monitor and take preventative measures against an outbreak of hepatitis A in the state.

As of last Friday, a total of 49 cases had been reported by 16 Minnesota counties. There have been 35 hospitalizations as a result, but no deaths. It's part of a national outbreak that began in 2016, according to Kris Ehresmann, the Department of Health's director for infectious disease.

"Some states have had a couple of thousand cases,” she said. “So, we are pleased that while we continue to see a case, or a couple of cases, that we haven't reached the point where we are seeing dozens of cases reported in a week."

Hennepin County has had the most cases with 16. Ehresmann said the other cases have been spread all over the state.

"We are continuing to see cases in the highest risk groups, which are people who use injection or non-injection drugs, people who are homeless or unstably housed and people who have been are or were recently incarcerated,” she said. “And those groups tend to be more mobile."

Ehresmann said the Health Department is helping arrange vaccinations for people in those groups. She said children are now routinely vaccinated for hepatitis A, but many adults have not had the shot.

"If you are an adult and you eat, you may want to consider getting vaccinated against hepatitis A,” she said. “And you can certainly check with your healthcare provider the next time you are in."

The current hepatitis A outbreak in the U.S. has resulted in tens of thousands of cases, and several hundred deaths.