Hepatitis outbreak in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, closes schools, sending some students to hospital

(Reuters) – Ukraine’s top health official said over the weekend that schools in the country’s central city of Vinnytsia will move to online management starting on Monday after a hepatitis A outbreak sent dozens of children and adults to hospital.

“The main task now is to identify the center and cause of the outbreak in order to stop the spread of viral hepatitis A among the population as quickly as possible,” Ukraine’s chief health doctor Ihor Kuzin wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

Kuzin, who is also Ukraine’s deputy health minister, said 141 people were hospitalized in the city and region. Vinnitsa had a pre-war population of approximately 370,000 and was the administrative center of the Vinnitsa region in central Ukraine.

Hepatitis A is a highly contagious, short-lived liver infection that can be spread through close personal contact or consumption of contaminated food or drinks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People infected with hepatitis A may feel sick for weeks to months, but usually make a full recovery – unless they are in a high-risk group or have a pre-existing health condition.

“So far, there is no single cause of the outbreak,” Kuzin said.

“We are analyzing centers of transmission and working with the population, especially to establish circles of contacts.”

(Editing by Daniel Wallis)