University Health Services to Offer Hepatitis a and Hepatitis B Vaccinations for UH Faculty and Staff

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Gwen Barros, (808) 956-6221
University Health Services
Posted: Apr 1, 2004

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa‘s Student Health Services will offer Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B immunization shots for UH faculty and staff on Thursday, April 15 and 22, and Friday, April 16 and 23, at the University Health Services building on the UH Mānoa campus.

The immunization clinic is being held in cooperation with corporate partner GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals and the UH Mānoa Student Health Services. The clinic is designed to provide faculty and staff an opportunity to receive vaccinations at no or low cost. Vaccinations are highly recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization for those traveling overseas to foreign countries.

Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B are potentially serious, highly contagious viral diseases that affect the liver and can lead to severe liver infection, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. There is no cure for either Hepatitis A or Hepatitis B.

Hepatitis A is spread from contaminated food and water, as well as person to person through fecal contamination and then hand-to-mouth contact. Sources of infection include uncooked foods such as fruits, salads, sandwiches, raw shellfish/seafood and the like.

Hawaiʻi has the highest incidence of Hepatitis B in the nation. Hepatitis B is transmitted directly and indirectly through infected blood and body fluids. It can be transmitted via sexual contact, eye or mouth exposure to infected fluids, through scrapes and cuts that come in contact with infected fluids, sports, use of UV drugs, tattooing, body piercing, etc.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact the University Health Services Center at 956-6221.