MERIDIAN, Idaho — Another food service worker has been confirmed positive for Hepatitis A amid a major spike of the contagious disease in the Treasure Valley.
According to Central District Health, the employee worked while contagious at the Frontier Club in Meridian, located at 116 East Broadway Avenue.
The infected person worked from 9 p.m. to close - approximately 2 a.m. - on both Friday, Aug. 2 and Saturday, Aug. 3.
Anyone who visited the bar during those times should check their vaccine records to see if they are immunized. If they have not gotten the vaccine, they are encouraged to get vaccinated within two weeks of the date of exposure.
After two weeks, a potentially-infected person will be "outside the window for protection," according to the health district. If you were exposed but miss the two-week window to get vaccinated, you are urged to monitor for symptoms of Hepatitis A.
Symptoms can include abdominal pain, dark urine, fatigue, fever, yellowing of the skin and eyes, light-colored stools, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting. The symptoms can begin 15 to 50 days after infection, with most cases beginning to display symptoms around the 28-day mark.
Anyone experiencing symptoms of Hepatitis A should seek medical attention. The disease is spread from person to person through fecal-oral contamination or through contaminated food or water.
Hepatitis A infections in Idaho have jumped 550% this year, up to 44 cases from 8 in 2018. Twenty-six of those cases have been in the Central Health District, which spans Ada, Boise, Elmore, and Valley counties.
Central District Health has sent out warnings about other infected workers at the Red Robin located at 211 West Parkcenter Boulevard in Boise and Saint Lawrence Gridiron on Bannock Street in Boise.
The exposure involving the Red Robin employee occurred the following dates, according to the health department.
• July 18* – before 5 pm
• July 19* – after 4 pm
• July 20* – before 3 pm
• July 21* – after 5 pm
• July 22* – after 4 pm
• July 24 – before 3 pm
• July 27* – before 4 pm
• July 28* – anytime
• July 31 – anytime
• August 1, 2, 3 – after 5 pm
• August 4 – after 4 pm
• August 5 – before 4 pm
• August 7 – anytime
