Fourteen students from Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese
Medicine, who were thought to have contracted hepatitis A during an
outbreak in this east China college, were discharged from hospital
on Wednesday after several days of medical observation.
But about 15 classmates are still hospitalized because the local
hospital still cannot completely rule out the possibility that they
were infected with the disease.
As of Wednesday, 64 students from the university had contracted
hepatitis A with no new infectious case reported in the past 24
hours, said Pu Zhilong, emergency office director of Jiangxi
Provincial Health Department.
The official said all the hepatitis A patients are in a stable
condition.
A preliminary investigation showed that the outbreak might have
been caused by two university canteen workers, who were hepatitis A
carriers, Pu said, adding that further investigation is in
progress.
The provincial health department has provided free vaccinations
for over 2,000 students from the university, said Liu Hongning,
president of the university.
Medical workers will supervise the disinfection of the patients'
dormitories as well as public places on campus, Liu said.
The Jiangxi Provincial Health Department said some students from
the university's suburban Wanli branch campus, in the province's
capital Nanchang, began to feel a loss of appetite and dwindling
strength on Sunday.
The department also said there might be more cases on campus
because hepatitis A is highly infectious and its incubation period
lasts 15 to 30 days.
The provincial health department has already triggered public
health emergency plans and an anti-hepatitis A working team has
been set up, headed by vice Governor Hu Zhenpeng.
Provincial, city and district level health departments have been
mobilized to prevent the spread of the disease.
Thirty-eight people in a school in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region also have
hepatitis A and 30 others are suspected of coming down with the
disease, said local health authorities on Monday.
An initial investigation suggests contaminated drinking water is
the cause of the outbreak. The first case was found on Nov. 23 and
the outbreak spread on Dec. 6.
The students' main supply of drinking water -- a well in the
junior middle school -- may have been contaminated by a drainage
ditch only five meters away.
In August, an outbreak of hepatitis A affected 69 high school
students in the same region.
Hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver, is caused by infectious
or toxic agents and characterized by jaundice, fever, liver
enlargement, and abdominal pain.
(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2006)