Coalition warns of possible increased Hepatitis A risk for homeless

The Calexico Brown Bag Coalition is notifying the local homeless population in Calexico to take extra hygienic precautions in the face of a reported Hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego.

Although no reported increase in Hepatitis A cases has been reported in Calexico, coalition co-founder Maribel Padilla said she and volunteers are taking the extra step of notifying the local homeless population of the situation in San Diego County and how they may protect themselves.

On Saturday, coalition members were out providing the local homeless population with hygienic products as well as flyers distributed by the San Diego County Public Health Services regarding the uptick in the county’s reported cases of Hepatitis A, which can be transmitted when people share food, drink or drugs with dirty hands, the SDCPHS reported.

“That’s the hard part — these people rarely seek healthcare let alone recognize the signs, so we are working to get them the flyers so they can take precautions or if they have symptoms to look for help,” Padilla said. “We want to try and keep it from becoming a crisis down here like it is in San Diego.”

In San Diego, reports of new Hepatitis A infections have kept mounting, with the current total caseload already 700 percent higher than the county’s yearly average since 2011, according to San Diego media reports.

Of the 134 San Diego County residents who have been hospitalized so far this year, most of them have been homeless people, the San Diego Union-Tribune recently reported.