WATCH: Hepatitis A is Hitting Florida Hard

Hepatitis A is striking Florida in a more deadly fashion than in other states, and the situation is getting so bad that Florida is offering free socks and bus passes to encourage homeless people to get vaccinated.

A Senate committee Tuesday was told 40 people in Florida have died from the virus.

Florida has had 2,540 reported cases this year of hepatitis A, including 78 last week, according to Department of Health data.

The contagious virus can attack the liver and is spread in such ways as oral ingestion of fecal matter.

That can happen, for instance, if people don’t wash their hands adequately after going to the restroom.

Senator Gayle Harrell chairs the Senate Health Policy Committee.

“We need to make sure we are reaching the key populations and that we can get them vaccinated. Until you have 80 percent of that population vaccinated, we are going to continue to have this problem.

With the number of Hepatitis A cases in the state growing exponentially, Florida issued a public health emergency in August and encouraged vaccination, especially for Floridians who are considered at risk or vulnerable to the virus once infected.

At-risk populations include homeless people and drug users, amounting to about 491 thousand people in Florida, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content