October 7, 2024
Media Contact: Brookie Crawford, brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov
Halifax County Health Department Offering Hepatitis A Vaccine
HALIFAX, Va. – The Halifax County Health Department has a limited number of hepatitis A vaccines that it is providing free to the public. If you are interested in obtaining a free hepatitis A vaccine, please contact the Halifax County Health Department at 434-476-4863.
Hepatitis A, sometimes referred to as viral hepatitis, is a disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). This contagious virus is spread through close person -to-person contact or by eating or drinking contaminated food or drink. Usually the virus, in healthy individuals, causes a mild, short-term illness which could last from several weeks to several months. However, in some individuals this virus can be very serious.
The best way to prevent hepatitis A is by getting vaccinated against the virus. The hepatitis A vaccine series consists of two injections six months apart.
Vaccination is highly recommended for individuals at high risk of hepatitis A infection, including:
- Persons traveling to countries with high or intermediate endemicity of hepatitis A (e.g., tourists, immigrants and their children returning to their country of origin to visit friends or relatives, military personnel, missionaries, and others who work or study abroad),
- MSM (men who have sex with men),
- Injecting and non-injecting drug users,
- Persons who live in communities with high rates of hepatitis A (e.g., American Indian, Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander communities and some religious communities),
- Homeless individuals,
- Persons who work with non-human primates,
- Persons with clotting factor disorders, such as Hemophilia, or chronic liver disease,
- People who have sexual contact with someone who has Hepatitis A, and
- Any person who wishes to be immune to Hepatitis A.
For more information, please contact the Halifax County Health Department at 434-476-4863.
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