Mass Vaccination to Control Hepatitis A Outbreak has lead to a Vaccine Shortage

    The United States is in the midst of a nationwide epidemic of Hepatitis A: an acute viral disease spread through contaminated food and water.  Over the course of the last year, Hep A has spread rapidly through homeless populations in city centers across the country. 
     The outbreak began in San Diego where there were over 300 cases and the city created extensive vaccination and sanitation campaigns throughout the city.  This blog has previously covered the initial outbreak and response in more detail. 
     However the outbreak was not contained to just California or even the West Coast.   Cases have spread to Utah, Pennsylvania and many other states.
    The outbreak in Kentucky began late in 2017 but by February of this year there have been over 100 cases including 73 hospitalizations due to the disease.  In order to combat the outbreak and keep it from spreading to nearby states the Kentucky Public Health Dept. instituted a mass vaccination give away in Louisville on Tuesday, Feb 20th.
     However, due to the intense demand for the Hep. A vaccine across the country this year there is now a shortage of the immunization. Each year about 1.2 million doses of the vaccine are made, but due to this large epidemic more than that have been requested by health departments and hospitals. Since only two companies make the vaccine, they are unable to keep up with extra supply to meet the demand. The CDC has reported to CNN that they are now working with heath departments to target vaccines at most at risk populations.
    The CDC report on the shortage:  https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/clinical-resources/shortages.html#note1

- Chris LeBoa