Central Florida continues to see record numbers of hepatitis A cases.
As of last week, eight Florida counties – all surrounding the I-4 corridor – have reported more than 100 cases of hepatitis A this year. Pasco and Pinellas counties have the most, with more than 340 new infections in each.
But Volusia County ranks third with just over 208 infections. Orange County is fourth with 150 cases, and Marion County is in sixth with 113 new infections.
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a public health emergency early this month. The state is offering free vaccines to populations at risk, including drug users and people who have recently experienced homelessness.
Last week, more than 6,400 Floridians were vaccinated against hepatitis A.
The Florida Department of Health is actively working to vaccinate those most at risk for hepatitis A infection,” the department wrote in its weekly surveillance report. “Since October 2018, the number of first doses of hepatitis A vaccine administered by both private providers and county health departments to adults age 18 years and older, as recorded in Florida SHOTS, remained well above the previous 5-year-average.”
Health officials stress the importance of washing your hands as the disease is spread through the fecal-to-oral route. See the table below for a full list of all Florida counties.
Pasco 374
Pinellas 344
Volusia 208
Orange 150
Hillsborough 122
Marion 113
Manatee 103
Hernando 101
Lake 98
Brevard 85
Lee 54
Palm Beach 54
Sarasota 44
Seminole 40
Citrus 39
Martin 33
St. Lucie 33
Polk 31
Sumter 31
Osceola 30
Charlotte 17
Miami-Dade 27
Broward 13
Santa Rosa 13
Duval 9
Okeechobee 9
Indian River 8
Levy 7
Bay 6
St. Johns 6
Alachua 5
Flagler 5
Okaloosa 5
Taylor 5
Collier 4
Jackson 4
Clay 3
Columbia 3
Escambia 3
Leon 3
Nassau 3
DeSoto 2
Glades 2
Hendry 2
Putnam 2
Wakulla 2
Walton 2
Franklin 1
Gilchrist 1
Hamilton 1
Hardee 1
Liberty 1
Madison 1
Monroe 1
Suwannee 1
Washington 1
Baker 0
Bradford 0
Calhoun 0
Dixie 0
Gadsden 0
Gulf 0
Highlands 0
Holmes 0
Jefferson 0
Lafayette 0
Union 0
WMFE is a partner with Health News Florida, a statewide collaborative reporting on health care.
Health reporting on WMFE is supported in part by AdventHealth.
