An immunization bill, introduced by state Rep. Harry Kennedy, D-St. Louis, would require all children attending day care, preschool, or nursery schools to receive the vaccinations. The bill further would require that students attending public or private schools be inoculated beginning in 2002. Clearly, there is a need for the state to handle this problem. Hepatitis A is a liver disease whose symptoms can include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, dark-colored urine, and a yellowing of the skin and eyes.
Symptoms usually last less than two months.
The St. Louis region experienced 190 cases of hepatitis A last year, compared to 40 cases in 1998, according to the city and county Health Departments. The virus, which is treated with immune globulin, affects an estimated 125,000 to 200,000 people a year nationwide. You are not going to eliminate the spread of hepatitis A in the community until you vaccinate children. All 50 states require an assortment of vaccinations before a child can attend school. The CDC also recommends the varicella vaccine for children who have not had chickenpox before their first birthday.