Question: I got vaccinated against hepatitis A after that outbreak last year. Will that protect me with this new problem?
Answer: Yes, it should, as long as you received two doses of the vaccine at least six months apart, as health officials advised at the time. If you forgot your second dose, go ahead and get it now.
Although one dose of the hepatitis A vaccine provides good protection, a second dose is necessary for nearly 100 percent protection and lasting immunity against the contagious liver infection, according to the state Department of Health.
The disease, caused by the hepatitis A virus, is usually spread by consuming contaminated food or water and also can be spread through close personal or sexual contact.
You are among more than 90,000 people in Hawaii who were vaccinated against hepatitis A between July and November 2016, seeking to protect themselves amid an outbreak last summer that sickened nearly 300 people. The Health Department traced that outbreak to raw scallops imported from the Philippines.
The current problem involves raw, frozen, cubed tuna imported from Indonesia. The tainted product was recalled after samples tested positive for hepatitis A, but by that time some had been distributed on Oahu and served as poke.
No one had reported falling ill as of Tuesday, but the Health Department said that was not surprising because hepatitis A symptoms may take weeks to show up.
Q: Why did the U.S. Postal Service remove the two collection boxes at Pearl City Shopping Center, 850 Kamehameha Highway? One was in front of Longs and the other Don Quijote. The post office inside Don Quijote will be closing May 9. A note reads, “do your transaction at Pearl City Post Office.” Parking is limited at the post office and traffic is busy in the morning because of the P.O. Box holders picking up their mail. It’s very bad during December. Cars line up on the driveway to wait for an open stall. Why can’t they leave one collection box in front of Longs’ 24-hour store, where there is good security? They could have a letter carrier from the Aiea/Waimalu area collect the box on the way back to the post office.
A: You’ll be happy to hear that while the postal unit inside Don Quijote is closing, the collection box outside the store will remain. They don’t go together because the former is operated by a private contractor and the latter by the U.S. Postal Service.
Duke Gonzales, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, explains:
“We appreciate your reader’s interest in our collection boxes. To clarify, we recently removed one of the two collection boxes referenced by your reader — the one that used to be in front of Longs Drugs store. The collection box in front of Don Quijote is still there and available for use. We decided to remove one of the collection boxes because the declining volume of mail deposited at that shopping complex did not warrant the continued presence of two collection boxes.
“The postal business located inside Don Quijote is a privately operated Contract Postal Unit (CPU). The decision to close that operation was made by the owner of that business.”
CPUs are a way for the U.S. Postal Service to provide service in locations that lack a full-size post office. Businesses that contract with the Postal Service to run CPUs often do so within larger stores, and must provide customers with mailing products and services at Postal Service prices, with no additional markup.
Mahalo
Mahalo to all the helpful people who rushed to assist my mom when she fell while waiting for transportation home from the doctor’s office. She was embarrassed by all the fuss but appreciated the assistance. She is fine. — Grateful daughter
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
