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Romanian Health Officials Probe Hepatitis-A Outbreak

by VR Sreeraman on Aug 8 2007 2:31 PM

Health officials have launched an investigation after some 50 teenagers in the same village were hospitalised with what is thought to be Hepatitis-A, officials sources said Tuesday.

Tests have already confirmed that 32 children have contracted the disease, said a health official in the Iasi district in the northeast of the country. The results on the other children are pending.

The teenagers, aged 12 to 14 years, are all from the northeastern village of Lungani. Authorities vaccinated 720 children in the village against the Hepatitis-A virus after the first children were hospitalised.

Although the inquiry is ongoing, preliminary investigated has suggested that a lack of good hygiene could have been behind the outbreak.

Hepatitis-A is a infectious disease of the liver that can be transmitted through contaminated food or water and thrives in unhygienic conditions. Its symptoms typically include fever, fatigue, abdominal pain and jaundice.

Source-AFP
LIN/J


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