MYFOXNY.COM – as many as 1,300 people may have been exposed to hepatitis A after eating the Communion wafer at Christmas mass in Massapequa Park, Long Island.
Monday afternoon a steady stream of parishioners from our Lady of Lourdes Church came to the auditorium at the church’s school for hepatitis a treatment.
The Nassau County Department of Health was there to either inoculate with a vaccine or treat immune globulin the parishioners.
Health officials said one person who offered the Communion wafer during two Christmas masses at the church already had been sickened with the highly contagious hepatitis A virus, which spreads from hand to mouth.
Once the flu-like symptoms of hepatitis A show up, usually within a month, it is too late for treatment, health officials said. so after learning from a lab that a person had hepatitis A, health officials moved quickly, tracked him down, and informed the public through the media.
A spokesman for the diocese said the contaminated person could be one of 10 who handled or offered the Communion wafer.
Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is what is called a “self-limiting disease,” which doesn’t become a chronic infection or chronic liver disease, according to the CDC website.
For more information on the potential hepatitis A exposure at our Lady of Lourdes Church, you can contact the Nassau County Department of Health at 516-227-9496.
The Nassau County Health Department is offering immune globulin or the Hep A vaccine for those who may have been exposed to the virus at our Lady of Lourdes Church auditorium, 855 Carmans Road, Massapequa Park, N.Y.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011 – 9 am to 3 pm
- NASSAU HEALTH DEPARTMENT
- CDC