Precautions for Hepatitis A, should be right precautions

Precautions for Hepatitis A, should be right precautions
EDITOR:
We were pleased to note the letter that appeared in last Tuesday's Vindicator, unfortunately, the letter contained important misinformation that we feel obligated to correct. The letter writer's three questions are excellent:
Should one continue to eat out? Yes.
Is there anything one can do to prevent getting infected? Yes, but not primarily the steps suggested in the Nov. 25 letter.
Is the threat of infection real? For those who got sick the risk was very real. For the rest of us, risk from Hepatitis A is really quite remote.
Hepatitis A is primarily transmitted by persons who do not wash their hands carefully after handling human feces (usually their own). For a week or more before becoming ill and for somewhat longer after illness develops, persons with Hepatitis A pass large amounts of virus in their stools. We may prefer not to think that this virus can find its way into our mouths, but the occurrence every year of 10,000 to 20,000 U.S. cases says otherwise. The Chi-Chi's outbreak appears to have been spread by onions (originating outside the United States) which were contaminated by human excrement long before reaching Chi-Chi's.
Contaminants of food anywhere between the farm and the table accounts for the vast majority of Hepatitis A cases. Some sexual practices can lead to infection, but only if carried out during the relatively short period of time during which a person is infectious. Hepatitis A is almost never transmitted by needles or common sexual practices. The letter gave sound public health advice about avoiding unprotected sexual contact (presumable outside of marital or monogamous relationships) or avoiding "unlicensed" tattoo parlors (in Mahoning County these establishments receive a permit, not a license). But his is not advice that will help your readers avoid Hepatitis A.
Vaccination can virtually eliminate all risk of Hepatitis A and is available at doctors' offices and clinics (including the Mahoning County District Board of Health) for those who choose to purchase this measure of protection. Handwashing after restroom use and before handling food can greatly reduce risks at home and in food service settings. Thorough cooking of foods kills the Hepatitis A virus, and proper handling with washed and/or gloved hands prevents contamination after cooking.
Hepatitis A is a serious disease that is much on our minds these days. Cook raw food. Wash your hands before they go in your mouth or on someone else's food. These are the prevention messages that count.
LARRY FRISCH, M.D., M.P.H.
Medical Director
Mahoning Co. District Board of Health
Our style of democracyisn't what's right for Iraq
EDITOR:
According to U.S. government estimates, U.S. armed forces have killed more than 10,000 Iraqi civilian men, women and children as we continue our search for weapons of mass destruction and links between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaida.
After months of open access to Iraq, it is becoming evident we will not find WMDs or Al-Qaida links, our stated purpose for going to war in the first place.
You may recall, President Bush stated he possessed photos, top secret information and verifiable sources that Iraq could launch their weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes. That turned out to be not true! Bush stated, "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to posses and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised." Because President Bush and his aides believed it did not make it fact. Had Congress known, it probably would not have allowed Bush to do a pre-emptive strike on a sovereign nation instead of concentrating on the one that sent civilian jets into the trade center. (Remember bin Laden?)
Now we are going to "nation build," something President Bush promised we would not get involved in when he ran for president. It's much too expensive and costly in U.S. lives. We are going to try to turn a religious state into a democracy. If, in their newfound freedom to vote, the people of Iraq decide on an Islamic state led by a cleric, we will probably not allow that free election to stand. That is not the style of democracy we want them to have.
Our style is where you can win the popular vote by more than half a million votes yet lose the election. Our style is where a millionaire pays a dollar per signature on a recall petition to overturn an election. Now that's the American style of democracy.
My hope is that our troops and Iraqi civilians did not die for nothing.
KEN DROMBOSKY
Boardman