A hepatitis A pre-epidemic state was declared in Parlita and Hristoforovca villages of Ungheni district. Almost 70 persons infected with hepatitis A were identified in the two villages. Only nine of them are grownups.

Sergiu Talmaci, of the Chisinau Public Health Center, has told IPN that in order to declare an epidemic, the viral hepatitis A morbidity must be 10 times higher than a week before.

According to Talmaci, in the mentioned villages the sources of drinking water were disinfected. The unauthorized waste dumps were liquidated and the conditions imposed on economic entities selling food products and beverages were toughened up. The education institutions are being sanitized. A rug with disinfectant is put at the entrance to the institutions. Officials in charge monitor how the children wash their hands.

Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. The virus is primarily spread when an uninfected (and unvaccinated) person ingests food or water that is contaminated with the faces of an infected person. Many cases have little or no symptoms especially in the young. The time between infection and symptoms, in those who develop them, is between two and six weeks. When there are symptoms they typically last eight weeks and may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain. Unlike hepatitis B and C, hepatitis A does not cause chronic liver disease and is rarely fatal, but it can cause debilitating symptoms and fulminant hepatitis (acute liver failure).