Hepatitis A Outbreak Continues To Expand
By News Service of Florida • May 14, 2019
An electron micrograph of the Hepatitis A virus (HAV), an RNA virus that can survive up to a month at room temperature.
Betty Partin / CDC
Florida reported 92 hepatitis A cases last week, bringing the total to 1,129 cases this year as an outbreak continues to grow, according to numbers posted Monday on the state Department of Health website.
The total is more than double the 548 cases reported in all of 2018. In the four previous years, the highest number of cases was 276 in 2017.
Hepatitis A, which can cause liver damage, can be spread through such things as food or drinks that have been contaminated with fecal matter from people with the disease.
Health officials have urged people to get vaccinated against the disease. The heaviest concentrations of the cases since Jan. 1, 2018, have been in the Tampa Bay region and Central Florida.
Pinellas County has had 344 cases during that period, followed by Pasco County with 292 cases; Orange County with 189 cases; and Hillsborough County with 176 cases, according to the state numbers.
Other counties with large numbers include Marion County, with 82; Lake and Volusia counties, each with 73; Seminole County, with 55; and Hernando County, with 53.
Hepatitis Outbreak
Hepatitis A Cases Soar Past 1,000
By News Service of Florida • May 7, 2019
WMFE
Florida has had a reported 1,037 cases of the liver disease hepatitis A this year, nearly double the amount reported for all of 2018, according to numbers posted on the state Department of Health website.
Contraceptives Pilot Program Gets Senate OK
By News Service of Florida • Apr 17, 2019
A Senate health-care panel on Tuesday approved a bill that would lead to establishing a pilot program that would allow women in three Florida counties to access long-acting reversible contraceptives such as intrauterine devices.
DeSantis Taps Surgeon General, Continues Fight Against Opioid Abuse
By Shawn Mulcahy • Apr 2, 2019
Gov. Ron DeSantis is tapping a doctor from the University of Florida to lead the state Department of Health.