Travellers urged to take Hepatitis A jab

The Health Promotion Unit is running a campaign to urge people to take the Hepatitis A jab before going abroad.

Adverts are being shown on television saying that Hepatitis A can be contracted through eating food prepared in unsanitary conditions.

Although Hepatitis A is considered an acute infection, and although it can rarely cause life-threatening liver damage, there are times when it can still prove fatal.

Department head Mario Spiteri said many people go abroad in summer but it does not cross their minds to take the jab, which is not very expensive.

No cases of Hepatitis A were notified to the Disease Surveillance Unit last year, but there were three in 2003 and two in 2002. Unit head Charmaine Gauci expressed her belief that Hepatitis A was not a problem in Malta, but added that the vaccine was recommended for people who go abroad.

Dr Gauci said those who had come in contact with infected people were given both the vaccine and an injection of immune globulin. Maria Sciberras, from the National Immunisation Service, said the incidence of Hepatitis A increased in summer as more people went abroad and were more likely to eat food prepared in unsanitary conditions, for example using unclean water.

Moreover, in summer people were more likely to eat cold salads and Ms Sciberras said the vegetables could have been washed with contaminated water. "Nobody sees the germs, and therefore people are more exposed to the infections."

Also possibly dangerous was seafood, especially when this was eaten raw. Ms Sciberras explained that the fish could have been caught from areas near sewage outflows, and therefore got infected.

Asked whether Hepatitis A was a difficult infection to contract, Ms Sciberras replied that this was not the case. Hepatitis A is an infection of the liver, and can affect anybody.

According to the Disease Surveillance Unit it is found in the faeces of infected people and is spread through the faeco-oral route, through poor sanitation or poor personal hygiene as well as contaminated food.

Worldwide, Hepatitis A is estimated to affect up to 10 million people annually. Many of the sufferers contract it while they are abroad, and it is common in Africa, northern and southern Asia, Central America and southern and Eastern Europe, the BBC health section says.

The incubation period of the virus before symptoms develop is between 15 to 50 days, usually around 30 days, but children tend to show fewer signs and symptoms than adults.

The Disease Surveillance Unit says signs and symptoms include loss of appetite, fatigue, fever, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal pain and jaundice.

The best protection is a vaccine. Short-term protection against the infection is available from immune globulin which can be given before and within two weeks after coming into contact with the infection.

However, the bottom line is being scrupulous about personal hygiene and taking care what one eats.