Hepatitis A Outbreak in the US: What You Need to Know to Help Protect Yourself and Your Patients

In this week’s episode, we’re joined by Dr. Frank LoVecchio, Vice-chair and Research Director for the Maricopa Medical Center Department of Emergency Medicine in Phoenix, Arizona, to discuss the current Hepatitis A outbreak, currently spanning 27 states in the US, and what you should know about the disease as an ER physician. Since 2016, there have been more than 33,000 reported cases, with over 60% of infected people hospitalized, and 329 deaths, making it the largest person-to-person Hepatitis A virus outbreak in the post-vaccine era. Learn about the role of the opioid crisis in the outbreaks, how the virus can be transmitted, and who should be vaccinated. This episode was supported by GlaxoSmithKline.