Hepatitis hygiene reminder

People are being reminded about the importance of good hand hygiene and to remain aware of the possible symptoms of hepatitis A.

The reminder has come from NHS Lanarkshire’s department of public health, environmental health officials and other agencies as part of the investigation and management of a hepatitis A outbreak

The number of confirmed cases has increased from nine to 42. Most of the cases recall having consumed food produced by the baker JB Christie before mid-April, through its outlets in Airdrie and Coatbridge.

As a precautionary measure, public health officials are continuing to raise awareness of the infection risk to help them identify other possible cases.

Dr Femi Oshin, NHS Lanarkshire consultant in public health medicine, said: “While our investigations continue, we want to remind people that although the risk of contracting the infection is low, anyone who has experienced a flu- like illness, loss of appetite, nausea, fever, abdominal pains or jaundice ( a yellowing of the eyes or skin), should contact their GP or, if out of hours, contact NHS24 by dialling 111.”

Hepatitis A is a viral infection which leads to inflammation of the liver and can cause mild to severe illness. The infection clears with time and usually there are no long-term effects although a very small proportion of people could develop serious complications. It can take between 15 and 50 days from the time the virus enters the body to the development of symptoms, so new cases are likely to continue to be identified in the coming weeks.

All 42 cases have had a medical assessment and of those patients who required hospital admission almost all have been discharged home.