Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 7, 1994 TAG: 9405090144
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Molly Rutledge, director of the Health Department, said a woman who worked at both food establishments last month was seen by a doctor April 22 and diagnosed as possibly having hepatitis A, a nonfatal but infectious viral disease.
Blood tests confirming the diagnosis should have been returned to the doctor the next day, she said. The doctor, who was required by law to report the diagnosis to the Health Department, failed to do so, she said. Rutledge would not release the name of the patient or the doctor.
She said the Health Department found out about the diagnosis when the laboratory that processed the tests mailed her the results. The reports arrived at the Health Department Thursday. The Health Department did not learn until speaking to a Burger King employee Friday that the woman had also worked at Kroger.
It is unclear whether the woman knew she had the disease when she returned to work at the Kroger deli April 23, Rutledge said.
She worked at Burger King from April 8 to April 19. She began working at Kroger April 18 and continued to work there until the end of the month.
Ken Hammond, Kroger zone manager, said the store did not know that the woman was sick and that if employees had thought she was sick, she would have been sent home. Kroger closed its deli immediately after hearing from the Health Department Friday and disposed of all food that had been exposed to employees.
"We reacted right away," Hammond said.
Kroger planned to sanitize the deli overnight and reopen it today after an inspection from the Health Department, he said. Hammond emphasized that all food handlers wear gloves and that the likelihood of anyone catching hepatitis at Kroger would be low because of health precautions taken while preparing foods.
Hepatitis A is transmitted through contaminated food when a person handling the food fails to wash his or her hands properly after using the bathroom. Symptoms of the disease include fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea and jaundice.
People who ate at the Kroger deli or Burger King at the time the woman worked there should seek medical advice if they become ill. Only those who ate at the Kroger deli between April 26 and 30 will be eligible for inoculations, available Monday at the Health Department in Salem, because the shots are effective only within 14 days of exposure, Rutledge said.
She said the state police delivered 500 doses of the inoculation to the Health Department Friday.
Not everyone exposed to the disease becomes ill, Rutledge said. People who do become ill are not in serious danger but will likely be sick for one or two weeks. People who already have had the disease cannot get it again.
People who become ill but are not eligible for the inoculation should rest and drink lots of fluids and should not handle food that others might eat, Rutledge said.
Questions may be directed to the Health Department at 387-5530 or 857-7800 or to the Department of Agriculture at (804) 786-3520.
by CNB