Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 24, 1994 TAG: 9411260024
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The bustle drowned the pain of the past 21/2 weeks, during which Dennis Rea saw his business fall off by 70 percent after an employee was found to have infectious hepatitis. Since Nov. 4, when the Roanoke Health Department announced the hepatitis A case, 1,844 Dairy Queen customers have gotten free gamma globulin injections to boost their immune systems against possible infection.
No related cases of hepatitis have been reported, and the two- to four-week incubation period is almost over.
If any still had doubts about the Dairy Queen's attention to cleanliness, 20 workers in the Roanoke Health Department were there Wednesday on their own time and at their own expense to dispel them.
"I told everyone I talked to this morning that I was going to the Dairy Queen for lunch because I wanted to see their reaction," said Dr. Molly Rutledge, acting director of the Roanoke Health Department. "Most said, 'Oh, they have very good food.' That's when I knew it was over."
In between bites of a double bacon cheeseburger that she washed down with a Frosty, Rutledge spoke of the dilemma of telling the public about a communicable disease while at the same time trying to keep the public from overreacting.
"I think what people do in all of life is, when something happens to them, they want to strike out. A food establishment is an easy one to blame, but it is as much a victim as the people," Rutledge said.
The Dairy Queen, she said, "has an excellent ongoing history of food-handling."
Through Nov. 5, there had been 19,169 cases of Hepatitis A in the country this year. Of the 155 cases in Virginia, four were from the Roanoke Valley.
Hepatitis A, which has flulike symptoms, is generally transmitted by a contagious person who fails to properly wash his or her hands after using the bathroom. Children often are the culprits.
"Hep A is so common among children as a mild illness," Rutledge said. "That's where the source really is. But adults really get sick."
It's believed the Dairy Queen worker might have caught the illness from her child, but that can't be confirmed.
The restaurant's and the worker's attention to cleanliness is probably the reason there have been no further cases, Rutledge said.
But the experience has been expensive. The Health Department spent more than $10,000 on gamma globulin and the staffing for four clinics. Supply costs haven't yet been calculated.
Dairy Queen owner Rea lost thousands of dollars - exactly how much, he can't say yet. He didn't lay off any employees, but more than half of his workers have had their hours cut.
The Dairy Queen normally served between 20,000 and 30,000 customers a month, Rea said. In addition to being a neighborhood restaurant, it is on a main thoroughfare (U.S. 460) and draws a lot of travelers.
During the hepatitis scare, Rea got calls from customers in Alabama, West Virginia and Tennessee.
Most customers were upset, he said, but not all.
Seated near the Health Department crew Wednesday were Carole Williamson and her daughter, Julia, Blue Ridge residents who are regular customers.
"I didn't even go get the shot," Williamson said. "I think it's silly for people to act the way they do."
Dennis Rea said some customers tried to buoy his spirits.
"They said, 'Don't worry, the business will come back.' But, you can't help but worry about it.
"Now, I think it's turned around, though."
by CNB