Hepatitis A: 1,700+ Treated In Westchester So Far

PORT CHESTER, NY — The Westchester County Department of Health provided preventive treatment to more than 1,700 people for Hepatitis A on Thursday and Friday in connection with five cases of the illness traced to the Bartaco restaurant in Port Chester. On Saturday, the free clinic to vaccinate against the illness will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Westchester County Center, 198 Central Park Avenue, in White Plains.

“Our goal is to keep people healthy,” said County Executive Robert P. Astorino. “We have the staff and medicine and the County Center will be open on Saturday to treat the people who need it.”

The Health Department said it vaccinated about 900 people on Thursday and 800 on Friday.

The preventive treatment is for people who may have been exposed to the disease when they ate or drank at Bartaco, a restaurant in Port Chester during the period of Oct. 14 through Oct. 23.

Saturday is the last day to treat people who ate or drank there on Oct. 14, because preventive treatment is only effective if given within 14 days of exposure.

To speed the process, register in advance and have your registration number handy when it is your turn. To register, go to www.health.ny.gov/go2clinic/60.

If you do not have internet access, call 211 or 1-800-899-1479 to register, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Bartaco customers also can call the company at 1-844-617-8242 to be directed to additional weekend clinics that are located in Connecticut.

Preventive treatment will also be available by appointment only on Monday and Tuesday at the Health Department’s White Plains clinic, 134 Court St. Appointments are available on Monday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. To register, go to www.health.ny.gov/go2clinic/60

Anyone with a prior history of Hepatitis A vaccination or Hepatitis A infection does not need to be treated and should not register.

The Health Department learned on Wednesday that an employee with Hepatitis A, a viral illness that affects the liver, worked at the restaurant while infectious.

To date, four patrons also have been diagnosed with Hepatitis A. The Health Department immediately began investigating the source of the infection upon learning of the cases.

Image via Shutterstock.