Personal Injury Law

The Quad-Cities - Hepatitis A Ground Zero - McDonalds Linked to 26 Illnesses and 5,366 Injections

By Bill Marler, Esq.

According to the Quad-City Times, the total of hepatitis A cases in the Quad-City region has grown by one, and the latest patient lives in Henry County. The Rock Island County Health Department has finished a series of free inoculation clinics to provide protection against the illness.

A total of 5,366 doses of either hepatitis A vaccine, or a product called immune globulin, were given out in public clinics run by Rock Island County. All of those receiving free inoculations had visited a McDonald's restaurant at 400 W. 1st St., in Milan during July 13-14.

Henry County reported an additional documented case of hepatitis A, raising that county's total to two. There are now at least 26 actual cases in the region, with 15 in Rock Island County, five in Mercer County, one each in Warren and Woodford counties, all in Illinois, as well as two cases in Scott County, Iowa. County officials have said the reported cases are part of the same outbreak and are connected to the Milan McDonald's.

The incubation period for Hepatitis A can be greater than one month, so the number of ill may well rise over the coming weeks.

Full post as published by Marler Blog on July 31, 2009 (boomark / email).