Bangor health professionals will offer hepatitis A vaccinations in the coming weeks to people who are homeless to avoid an outbreak of the highly contagious virus like what Portland saw in recent months.
Bangor public health staff will offer the vaccine, supplied by Penobscot Community Health Care, to people who are homeless in locations where people gather to stay warm and access resources, according to Patty Hamilton, Bangor’s public health director.
The vaccines will be available in the next several weeks at Bangor-area shelters, warming centers, the Bangor public library and the Salvation Army.
Hepatitis A is a highly contagious, but vaccine-preventable, liver infection that causes fatigue, nausea, stomach pain and jaundice for up to two months, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s spread when someone ingests the virus through close contact with an infected person or by eating contaminated food or drink.
Though Bangor hasn’t seen any concerning cases of hepatitis A recently, Hamilton said she’d like to prevent an outbreak like what Portland saw among several people living in homeless encampments in Portland late last year.
“Hepatitis A is very contagious, can spread quickly through groups quickly and people can spread it before they know they have it,” Hamilton said. “It will save us a lot of heartbreak if we can prevent an outbreak before one happens. This is a proactive approach rather than reactive.”
To date, the Maine CDC is aware of 21 cases of hepatitis A in Portland among homeless people and others associated with the community, according to Lindsay Hammes, Maine CDC spokesperson.
The Maine CDC also reported three food service workers from different restaurants were diagnosed with hepatitis A in October and November 2023.
In October, an employee from Green Elephant Bistro in Portland and one from Marco’s Italian Restaurant in Lewiston were diagnosed, then one employee from The Dockside Grill in Falmouth was diagnosed the following month, according to the Maine CDC.
It’s easiest for health officials to offer and administer vaccines in the winter, as people who are homeless are more likely to congregate in certain locations, but people aren’t always willing to get a vaccine when offered, Hamilton said.
“Some people really want the vaccine and will step right up the first time it’s offered,” Hamilton said. “Others are more suspicious, so the way to address that is to keep offering it. You just have to be persistent and available.”
Hamilton isn’t sure when public health employees will begin offering the vaccines, but hopes they’ll be available in February and March.
Though the vaccine requires two shots, six months apart, to be 100 percent effective, Hamilton said just one dose has an efficacy rate of more than 90 percent. This means even if someone gets only one shot, they’ll be well protected from the virus.
The city’s health department has offered other vaccines in this way previously, but it has been several years since a hepatitis A vaccine was administered.
Most people who contract hepatitis A recover completely without lasting liver damage, the Maine CDC states. However, hepatitis A can cause liver failure and be deadly in rare cases, usually for older people or people with serious health issues, such as liver disease.
Maine saw just fewer than 300 hepatitis A cases between April 1, 2019 to May 19, 2023, the most recent data the U.S. CDC lists. About 130 people were hospitalized, but no one died from the virus.
