Establishing a viral hepatitis prevention and control program: Florida's experience.

In 1999, the Florida State Legislature established and funded the statewide Hepatitis Prevention Program (HPP) to address growing concern about hepatitis C virus (HCV) and its potential public health burden. HPP supports county health departments' (CHDs') provision of viral hepatitis prevention services to at-risk adults through free hepatitis A and B vaccine in most CHDs and hepatitis serologic testing and statewide viral hepatitis-related education, consultation, and referral services. Some CHDs are directly funded by HPP. In 2001-2005, HPP support helped CHDs provide 59,228 hepatitis A and 74,039 hepatitis B vaccinations statewide. In 2005, HPP supported almost 17,000 hepatitis B and C tests. From January to June 2005, 1,603 positive HCV tests were reported, a 9.5% seropositivity rate. With $24 million from the Florida State Legislature through 2006, HPP has helped CHDs statewide provide substantial viral hepatitis prevention services to at-risk adults.

Raw Oyster-Associated Vibrio Infections: Linking Epidemiologic Data with Laboratory Testing of Oysters Obtained from a Retail Outlet.

Raw oysters harvested from Apalachicola Bay, FL, and purchased from a retail outlet in Tallahassee, FL, were tested monthly from March 1989 through March 1990 for the presence of Vibrio species. We studied the temporal relationship between Vibrio levels found in these oysters and the incidence of raw oyster-associated Vibrio illnesses with onset dates in 1989-1990 among persons living in counties located adjacent to or near Apalachicola Bay. Five of the six Vibrio species implicated in raw oyster-associated gastroenteritis or septicemia in the study area during 1989-1990 were recovered from the retail raw oysters. With the exception of Vibrio vulnificus , which was recovered during the warmest months, recovery of other Vibrio species from oysters was distributed widely throughout the year. Thirty-seven patients in the study area with 39 Vibrio infections with onset of illness from January 1989 through December 1990 were reported to the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. Thirty-three (89%) of these patients reported eating raw oysters during the week before onset of illness and experienced gastroenteritis (32 patients) or septicemia (1 patient).