Hepatitis A outbreak in part of Arkansas grows; officials urge county's residents to get vaccinated

An outbreak of hepatitis A in northeast Arkansas has almost doubled in size, to 60 cases, in just over a month and resulted in one death, prompting the state on Friday to urge all residents of Greene County age 19-60 to get vaccinated.

The state Department of Health said in a news release that it will offer the vaccine in Paragould from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on July 26-27 at the Greene County Health Unit at 801 Goldsmith Road and at the Eastside Baptist Church at 529 E. Court St.

The shot will be offered at no cost to the patient, the department said. It said residents should bring their insurance card and driver’s license if they have them. The shot will be free for those without insurance. Those with insurance will not have to pay out of pocket.

“There are hep A outbreaks happening across the United States, and some of them currently include hundreds of people,” State Epidemiologist Dirk Haselow said in the news release. “We have the benefit of being able to look at what other states are doing to help us manage our own outbreak. We believe that taking this step will help curb this outbreak and keep people from getting sick.”

Hepatitis A is a liver disease that is typically spread when a person ingests small amounts of fecal matter. Although they may feel sick for months, most people infected with hepatitis A will recover completely and will not have any lasting liver damage, the department said.

Eighty percent of the cases reported in the state in the last month have been in Greene County, the department said. Since February cases have also been reported in Clay, Craighead, Lawrence, Randolph and Independence counties.

The department said it is focusing on 19-60-year-olds because all of the recent cases are in that age range, many children have already been vaccinated and many adults over age 60 have developed immunity through previous exposure to the virus.

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