The Westchester County Health Department will provide free preventive treatment for Hepatitis A Tuesday through Thursday in White Plains for anyone who ate or drank at Fin & Brew restaurant at Factoria in Peekskill on February 15, 16 or 19, or at a private party at The Space, an event space there, on February 15.
The preventive treatment is being offered because the Health Department learned that an employee with Hepatitis A at the event space at Factoria in Peekskill while infectious, so anyone who ate or drank at a private party there on Saturday, February 15 may have been exposed. Because Fin & Brew shares an ice machine with the event space, patrons who ate or had drinks at the restaurant on Saturday, February 15, Sunday February 16 or Wednesday, February 19, also have potential exposure so are being offered preventive treatment in an abundance of caution. Patrons elsewhere in the complex are not at risk because the facilities are separate.
Preventive treatment is only effective if given within two weeks of the last day of exposure. Therefore, those who ate or drank on February 15 must receive preventive treatment by February 29. Those who consumed food or beverages on February 16 must receive treatment by March 1 and those who ate or drank there on February 19 must receive treatment by March 4
No one with a prior history of Hepatitis A vaccination or Hepatitis A infection needs to be treated.
The health department will offer free preventive treatment at the Health Department Clinic, 134 Court Street, White Plains, on the following dates and times. Although walk-ins are welcome, advance registration is highly recommended. To register, go to www.health.ny.gov/gotoclinic/60:
- Tuesday, February 25, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Wednesday, February 26, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
- Thursday, February 27, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
- For other times by appointment during clinic hours, call 914-995-7499
To provide consent, a parent/guardian must accompany anyone under 18 years of age. Restaurant patrons who were exposed also can seek preventive treatment from their own health care provider.
Factoria is cooperating with the Health Department and conducted a thorough cleaning on Thursday. Staff were vaccinated on Friday. The owner of the complex told the Health Department that going forward, he plans to require all future employees receive Hepatitis A vaccine prior to working there.
Hepatitis A is transmitted by consuming food or drinks or by using utensils that have been handled by an infected person. It may also be spread from person to person by ingesting something that has been contaminated with the stool of a person with Hepatitis A. Casual contact, such as sitting together, does not spread the virus.
Hepatitis A is generally a mild illness whose symptoms include fatigue, fever, poor appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine, light colored stool and jaundice, which is the yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. Not everyone infected with Hepatitis A will have all of its symptoms. Symptoms commonly appear within 28 days of exposure, with a range of 15 to 50 days. Preventive treatment is only effective within two weeks of exposure to the virus, but symptoms typically do not appear until a person has had the virus for a few weeks. The illness is rarely fatal and most people recover in a few weeks without any complications.
Sherlita Amler, MD, Commissioner of Health, said: “I urge anyone who is eligible for treatment to get a Hepatitis A vaccine. There are no special medications used to treat a person once symptoms appear, but Hepatitis A transmission to others can be prevented through proper handwashing.”