64 college students diagnosed of hepatitis A in Jiangxi

Source: Xinhuanet | 12-20-2006 08:52

As of 5:00 PM Tuesday, 64 students from Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine have been confirmed to contract hepatitis A, but no death reported has been made so far.

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 loss of appetite and short of strength since Sunday.

Totally 64 students have been diagnosed of hepatitis A, who have all been hospitalized, said the department, adding that all the students are now in a stable condition.

The department said more people from the campus might be confirmed to be infectious with hepatitis A because the infectivity of the disease is high and its incubation period could last for 15 to 30 days.

The provincial health department has already started its public health emergency plans and an anti-hepatitis A working team has been founded in the province, headed by Vice Governor Hu Zhenpeng.

Currently, the health departments of provincial, city and district levels have already been mobilized to control the further epidemic of the disease.

Medical workers will supervise the disinfection in the dormitory rooms of the patients as well as the public places on the campus and those who had close contacts with the patients have been vaccinated.

So far, it is still unknown why the students have contracted hepatitis A.

Thirty-eight people in a school in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have also been confirmed to have hepatitis A and 30 others are suspected of coming down with the disease, said local health authorities Monday.

Initial investigation shows contaminated drinking water is the main cause of the outbreak. The first case was found on Nov. 23 and the outbreak spread on Dec. 6.

A well in the junior middle school, the main supply of drinking water for students, was contaminated possibly by a drainage ditch only five meters away.

In August, an outbreak of hepatitis A knocked down 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.

Editor:Du Xiaodan