Now that it has been confirmed that a bakery worker at Hawaii Kai Costco has Hepatitis A, you may be wondering what to do.
KHON reports that [Costco] “members who purchased baked goods prepared or packaged in the bakery between June 16-20 are being contacted by Costco.”
KHON goes on to stress that the likelihood of infection is very low.
“This is purely as a precaution. We’re not saying, Costco — just like with the other businesses — Costco is not the source of the hepatitis A outbreak. There is no evidence at this point that any of the products sold on the dates in question were ever contaminated,” said Dr. Sarah Park, state epidemiologist. “The risk is likely very low, because Costco does have a very strict policy about no bare hands on ready-to-eat products, and the person we talked to, the person used gloves and washed hands appropriately.”
However, given that the department confirmed 93 cases of hepatitis A in the State as of Tuesday, July 26, one might want to look into getting vaccinated. A list of participating pharmacies is available on the Hawaii Department of Health website [pdf].
Here in the Hawaii Kai area, your options include — ironically — Costco, Longs Drugs (multiple locations) and Walgreens. A little further out, Times Kahala also offers vaccinations. Call the pharmacies directly to inquire about insurance and other details. According to the list, all of the pharmacies are walk-in.