LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18)- There were 13 new cases of hepatitis A cases in Lexington last month, according to officials with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department.
Those 13 cases brought the new total to 34 in Fayette County. Of those 34 cases, 74 percent included hospitalization, compared to about 53 percent throughout Kentucky.
There have been 16 total deaths in Kentucky related to hepatitis A; none have been in Fayette County.
Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver that can cause loss of appetite, nausea, tiredness, fever,
stomach pain, brown-colored urine, and light-colored stools. Yellowing of the skin or eyes may
also appear. People may have some or none of these symptoms. It could take up to seven weeks
after being exposed to the virus for someone to become ill.
Hepatitis A usually spreads when a person unknowingly ingests the virus from objects, food or
drinks contaminated by small, undetected amounts of stool from an infected person.
The hepatitis A vaccine is available at the health department.
