More than 600 cases have been reported in the state and 21 people have died. According to the California Department of Public Health, most of those infected are homeless or use drugs in places where sanitation has been a challenge. “There should be more hand-washing and bathrooms,” said a man who has been homeless for more than four years. Identifying himself only as J-el, he lives on Skid Row, an area in downtown Los Angeles known for its homeless population.
Far below UN standard
A recent study conducted by Skid Row advocates, organizations and residents found that the area fell short of U.N. refugee camp standards calling for one public toilet for every 20 people. According to the report, during daytime hours, with a street population of more than 3,600 people, Skid Row is as many as 164 toilets short of the U.N. standard. At night, the Skid Row population drops to about 1,700 people who live on the streets. The city of Los Angeles said there are only six public toilets in the downtown area that are open 24 hours a day.
A homeless man takes food from a trash can in Los Angeles' Skid Row area, home to the nation's largest concentration of homeless people, Oct. 28, 2017, in Los Angeles. California declared a statewide emergency because of a hepatitis A outbreak linked to homeless encampments. Comparisons are being made to conditions more commonly seen in Third World countries.
Critics said illicit activities can occur, which is a reason why some public bathrooms are not open at night. “They (the city) don’t want to let you use the toilet so it’s a problem here, and it’s somewhat of a problem with us (homeless people) as people (be)cause we mess up the toilet some of us, mess up the toilet, and then ... but at the same time, the people who don’t, they get penalized and can’t use it. They got to end up using it out here some place,” said J-el referring to the side of the street as a place where many people who are homeless use as bathrooms.
Lying on a urine-stained sidewalk, two homeless drug addicts hallucinate in Los Angeles' Skid Row area, home to the nation's largest concentration of homeless people
Unsanitary conditions can become a breeding ground for the hepatitis A virus, said Jeff Klausner, professor of medicine and public health at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Right now the outbreaks in San Diego and Los Angeles of hepatitis A is being spread by poor sanitation, person-to-person spread, and contaminated, unclean feces or inability for people to wash their hands,” Klausner said.
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Drug for one hepatitis type may activate another: watchdog December 2, 2016 - Drugs against one type of hepatitis may activate another, sometimes with fatal consequences, Europe's medicines watchdog warned on Friday.
The medicines, which are highly effective against hepatitis C, may trigger latent hepatitis B in patients infected with both types, the European Medicines Agency said in a statement. It named the antivirals Daklinza, Exviera, Harvoni, Olysio, Sovaldi and Viekirax used to treat chronic hepatitis C, an infectious liver disease. "Cases of the return of previously inactive hepatitis B infection, which can be fatal, have been reported in patients treated," with this class of drug, the agency said in a statement announcing the findings of a probe. There have been only about 30 cases of hepatitis B reactivation out of thousands of patients taking the drugs, the agency said. And there was not enough information to draw a conclusion on cancer risk. But a special risk assessment committee of the agency recommended that all patients be screened for hepatitis B virus before starting any of these treatments. It also proposed that a warning be included in the drug information leaflet. The drugs, a new class known as "direct-acting antivirals" are more effective than their predecessors. At a cost of some 40,000 to 80,000 euros ($43,000-$86,000) for a 12-week course, they are the preserve of a lucky few. Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most often caused by a virus but sometimes by drug or alcohol abuse, other infections, or autoimmune diseases. The B and C types usually occur from contact with body fluids of an infected person. Other than for hepatitis B, there is no vaccine against hepatitis C. https://www.yahoo.com/news/drug-one-...95.html?ref=gs
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