| OCR Text |
Show Hepatitis reported in local cases A "slightly more than usual outcropping of cases of hepatitis have stricken three persons recently in the Cedar City area. Kathy MacRae, public health nurse for the Southwest District Health Department, said the three cases represent no significant increase in reported cases of the disease. She said there have been numerous reportings of outbreaks in California, Nevada and Arizona, "and when these states have cases, it is going to cross borders." bor-ders." One of the local cases was a student who had been attending college in Arizona. The second was a kindergarten-aged child, and the third an older woman, Mrs. MacRae said. Hepatitis, an inflamation of the - liver, is generally transmitted by an oral-fecal route, Mrs MacRae said, through such things as dishes, eating, personal contact with toilet facilities and sinks. She said there is "a very, very remote" chance it can be transmitted by water systems. Symptoms vary with the case, she added, generally those afflicted show a lack of apetite, loss of energy, with some nausea. Yelow juandice may appear in yellowing of the hands and whites of the eyes, with urine and stool change. Rest is the most important im-portant treatment, she added. "Contacts are also treated with gamma globin," Mrs. MacRae said. "Generally just those in the family are regarded as personal contacts. Hepatitis is not as contagious as many have believed." In the three recent cases, there is no apparent relationship via school, church or any close association. |
