Kansas
Department of Health & Environment
Bill Graves, Governor
Clyde D. Graeber, Secretary
For Immediate Release
October 10, 2001
Contact: Mike Heideman, (785) 296-5795
Local and state health officials have identified a case of hepatitis A in a food service employee at the Perkins Family Restaurant, 2920 Tenth Street, Great Bend. Customers may have been exposed to hepatitis A by the presence of a sick food handler in conjunction with food handling procedures that could have contributed to the transmission of the infection. Proper food handling procedures are important to prevent the unintentional exposure of restaurant patrons to hepatitis A.
People who ate lettuce salads, breads, or desserts at the Perkins Family Restaurant on September 28 between noon and 6:00 p.m. or on September 29 between 8:30 a.m. and noon are advised to receive an injection of immunoglobulin (IG) from the Barton County Health Department at 1300 Kansas, Great Bend. The injection will be available free of charge at the health department between noon and 8 p.m. on Thursday, October 11 and between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 12.
Patrons who ate at the restaurant the week before might also have been exposed, but the two-week time frame for an IG injection to be beneficial to those people has lapsed, and IG given to these people would not offer any benefits. Health officials advise any patron who develops symptoms suggestive of hepatitis A to consult their physician, and inform their physician that they might have been exposed to hepatitis A. Symptoms of hepatitis A include fever, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin). Symptoms of the disease may not appear until 2 to 7 weeks from the time of exposure.