SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - San Diego County’s hepatitis A outbreak appears to be on the decline due to a drop in the number of new cases, according to local health officials.
There were about 84 new cases reported each month between May and September, the Health and Human Services Department reported. That number dropped to 34 cases in October and 20 in November. So far, there have been only two cases in December.
The hepatitis A outbreak has led to 20 deaths and 571 illnesses since March, many of them in homeless or at-risk populations.
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“This downward trend in outbreak activity is evidence that our strategic approach of vaccination, sanitation and education has been working to halt this outbreak,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. “It’s still important that anyone with a known risk for hepatitis A who has not been vaccinated do so now so we can continue this trend.”
County Supervisors extended the local health emergency through the end of the year.
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