CDC Alert: Hepatitis A Outbreaks in Multiple States: Recommendations and Guidance

Overview

Hepatitis A is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable, viral disease spread via a fecal-oral route or by exposure to contaminated food or water. Hepatitis A rates have declined substantially in the United States since the introduction of the hepatitis A vaccine in 1996.

However, since early 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has observed an increase in the number of community-wide hepatitis A outbreaks in multiple states. For these outbreaks, CDC recommends vaccination for persons who report drug use (injection and non-injection), persons at high risk for drug use (e.g., participating in drug substitution programs, receiving substance abuse counseling or treatment, recently or currently incarcerated), men who have sex with men, and persons experiencing homelessness. CDC also encourages vaccination in certain settings such as emergency departments and corrections facilities in outbreak-affected areas when feasible.

During this COCA call, subject matter experts from CDC will discuss vaccination to stop these outbreaks and current CDC recommendations for the hepatitis A vaccine.

Objectives

At the conclusion of this COCA Call, the participant will be able to accomplish the following:

Describe the epidemiology of the current hepatitis A outbreaks occurring in multiple states.
Discuss the ongoing transmission of hepatitis A among high-risk populations.
Review the indications for hepatitis A vaccination and use of hepatitis A vaccine in contacts as post-exposure prophylaxis.
Discuss how to coordinate with local and state health departments on understanding hepatitis A in local jurisdictions.

Presenters

Sapna Bamrah Morris, MD, MBA
Incident Manager, Incident Command Structure Hepatitis A Response
Division of Viral Hepatitis
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Monique Foster, MD, MPH
Medical Epidemiologist
Division of Viral Hepatitis
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Noele Nelson, MD, PhD, MPH
Medical Officer
Division of Viral Hepatitis
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Instructions for Obtaining Continuing Education (CE)

To receive continuing education (CE) for WC2922-112918 – (Webcast) Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) Calls/Webinars – Hepatitis A Outbreaks in Multiple States: CDC Recommendations and Guidance – November 29, 2018, please visit TCEO and follow these 9 Simple Steps by December 31, 2018.

To receive continuing education (CE) for WD2922-112918 – Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) Calls/Webinars – Hepatitis A Outbreaks in Multiple States: CDC Recommendations and Guidance – November 29, 2018, (Web on Demand), please visit TCEO and follow these 9 Simple Steps by January 1, 2021.

Accreditation Statements

CME: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

CNE: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is accredited as a provider of Continuing Nursing Education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
This activity provides 1.0 contact hour.

CEU: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is authorized by IACET to offer 0.1 CEU’s for this program.

CECH: Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. This program is designated for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES) to receive up to total 1.0 total Category I continuing education contact hours. Maximum advanced level continuing education contact hours available are 0. CDC provider number 98614.

CPE: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. This program is a designated event for pharmacists to receive) 0.1 CEUs in pharmacy education. The Universal Activity Number is 0387-0000-18-214-L04-P and enduring 0387-0000-18-214-H04-P course category.
This activity has been designated as Knowledge-Based.
Once credit is claimed, an unofficial statement of credit is immediately available on TCEOnline. Official credit will be uploaded within 60 days on the NABP/CPE Monitor.

For Certified Public Health Professionals (CPH)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a pre-approved provider of Certified in Public Health (CPH) recertification credits and is authorized to offer 1.0 CPH recertification credit for this program.

AAVSB/RACE: This program was reviewed and approved by the AAVSB RACE program for 1.0 hours of continuing education. Participants should be aware that some boards have limitations on the number of hours accepted in certain categories and/or restrictions on certain methods of delivery of continuing education. Please contact the AAVSB RACE program at race@aavsb.org if you have any comments/concerns regarding this program’s validity or relevancy to the veterinary profession.

DISCLOSURE: In compliance with continuing education requirements, CDC, our planners, our presenters, and their spouses/partners wish to disclose they have no financial interests or other relationships with the manufacturers of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services, or commercial supporters. Planners have reviewed content to ensure there is no bias. The presentation will not include any discussion of the unlabeled use of a product or a product under investigational use. CDC did not accept commercial support for this continuing education activity.