Taking the fight against Hepatitis A to the County Jail 

The State Surgeon General has declared a public health emergency related to the hepatitis A epidemic in Florida.  Leon County had five cases and is now considered an impacted county.

As part of an ongoing effort to prevent future hepatitis outbreaks in Leon County, focused vaccination efforts are being implemented at the Leon County Detention Center. The number of inmates averages around 1,100 at any given time.

Registered nurses Aleta Jarrret and Lue Daughenbaugh are part of a small mobile medical unit from the Leon County Health Department that visited the jail on Friday February 28^th, vaccinating inmates. The team in addition to providing vaccines, talked with the inmates about preventing Hepatitis A virus infection.

Hepatitis A vaccines are voluntary in the jail just as they are in the community; therefore, several members of the public health community outreach team educated inmates before the nurses arrived and encouraged them to get vaccinated.

At the end of an all-day clinic, some 250 inmates received the vaccine. The overall strategy is to prevent hepatitis outbreaks in jail and to improve immunity in the Leon County community.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Hep A Vaccine should talk with his or her health care provider, or if you're in Leon County call the public health department at: 850-404-6300.

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*submitted by Pamela Saulsby, PIO