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Unspecified Hepatitis in
Washington State
New requirements for
the reporting of unspecified, infectious hepatitis were
instituted in December of 2000.
Hepatitis D (delta) virus and hepatitis E virus infections
should be reported to DOH as unspecified infectious hepatitis.
An
outbreak of hepatitis B among injecting drug users in Pierce
County in April 2000 included 60 cases and resulted in three
deaths among cases co-infected with hepatitis D virus.
Two cases of Hepatitis E
have been reported in the past five years, both associated
with travel to India.
Purpose of Reporting and
Surveillance
- To better characterize the epidemiology of infectious
hepatitis not due to hepatitis A, B, or C viruses.
- To recommend appropriate preventive measures, including
immunization against other types of hepatitis which are
vaccine-preventable.
Legal Reporting Requirements
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Health care providers:
notifiable to local health jurisdiction within 3 work
days
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Hospitals: notifiable to local
health jurisdiction within 3 work days
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Laboratories: no requirements
for reporting
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Local health jurisdictions:
notifiable to Washington State Department of Health (DOH)
Communicable Disease Epidemiology Section (CDES) within
7 days of case investigation completion or summary
information required within 21 days
Last
update
May 2008 |
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