Hepatitis hits top Melbourne restaurant.
A food handler at Cumulus Inc, fine-dining hotspot of Flinders Lane Melbourne has been diagnosed with hepatitis A, a highly contagious liver infection
As a result hundreds of diners who have gone there will be contacted by the health department.
It isn’t clear how the male food handler acquired hepatitis A but Victoria’s Department of Health issued an alert notifying anyone who ate at the restaurant between February 26 and March 19 to visit their GP for a free hepatitis A vaccine, and seek urgent medical attention if they feel unwell.
The department also plans to contact anyone who booked at the restaurant during the same time period.
Significantly, there’s been an outbreak of the disease in Victoria which has already claimed one life.
This follows hundreds of people being infected by an unusual increase in hepatitis A cases in Europe and North America.
A Cumulus Inc. spokeswoman said the venue had been through a clean-up it had not been forced to close and remained open on Thursday afternoon when the notification went out.
The restaurant says the infected staff member first showed signs of illness last Friday, March 16, and was immediately sent home. When he returned to work on Monday, he was again sent home to seek medical assistance. The authorities at the hospital contacted the restaurant to advise that he was ill with hepatitis A.
“There is no ongoing risk to diners," the spokesperson told The Age.
Senior public health physician Dr Finn Romanes said there could be more cases of the infection. Symptoms were often not apparent until 15 to 50 days after infection.
“Information about hepatitis A has been provided to other workers at the restaurant and they are being offered vaccinations. None has reported any illness,” Dr Romanes told The Age.
“The symptoms of hepatitis A are fever, nausea, vomiting and abdominal discomfort, dark urine, yellow skin and eyes [jaundice].
“Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver that occurs when the virus is taken ingested. The virus then infects the liver and is passed in the faeces.”
Leon Getler 23rd March 2018.
