Children Immunized After Hepatitis Outbreak at Home

A number of children at the Orangewood Children’s Home were immunized Thursday after a case of hepatitis A was discovered in one of the cottages where the children stay, a county health official said.

About 20 children were immunized with the immune serum globulin when the case of the virus was discovered Thursday, said Len Foster, division manager of the Orange County Health Care Agency’s Adult and Child Health Services.

Only one cottage was affected, Foster said, and each cottage houses between 25 and 29 children. Not all of the children had to be immunized.

“We are now going through the process of identifying what other children in the last two weeks have been residents of that cottage and which staff members may have been exposed,” Foster said.

Hepatitis A is the least serious strain of the virus, which is passed through a fecal-oral transmission and usually occurs through improper hand-washing or food preparation. The virus comes with flu-like symptoms, medical experts say.

“We don’t believe this is serious but we do believe in prompt action,” Foster said.

Orangewood is a shelter for abused or troubled children. Last year alone, some 30,000 children passed through the facility, which assigns many to foster homes.