Surgeon Danny Takanishi, a professor at the University of Hawai’i John A. Burns School of Medicine, helped people in Hawai’i better understand the ongoing Hepatitis A outbreak last week, when he shared details of how the virus affected him.
Dr. Takanishi, Associate Residency Program Director, was stricken around July 10, 2016, with “a profound sense of fatigue.” He told Hawai’i News Now’s Mileka Lincoln that at first, he thought he had the flu. Dr. Takanishi was on leave from his surgery job at the time he fell ill, and had no contact with patients during his illness. Now, after suffering the disease, he is immune to Hepatitis A. By the way, you must ingest the virus to catch it. So typically people catching the liver infection are eating contaminated food which was handled by a Hepatitis A carrier who probably didn’t wash his or her hands thoroughly while preparing a meal or food product. Hepatitis A can be acquired by sexual contact too, or from human feces in drinking water.
This video is courtesy of Hawai’i News Now:
Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL
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