Saturday, January 08, 2011

Parishioners line up for vaccine

Dozens of people newly vaccinated against hepatitis A filed out of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church Friday morning, almost two weeks after hundreds of people may have been exposed to the illness during holiday weekend Masses. 

Investigators learned that some of the Communion wafers distributed at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Christmas and the day after may have been touched by a person later found to be infected with the virus. 

Wafers that may have been touched by the infected person on Christmas may have been mixed with other hosts and used in later Masses, Nassau Health Department spokeswoman Mary Ellen Laurain said.

In addition to people who received Communion on Christmas Day at the 10:30 a.m. and noon Masses, parishioners who did so at the following Masses should also seek treatment:  

Christmas Day at 1:30 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 26, at 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m., the department said.

A father and daughter getting vaccinations Friday morning had different feelings about the scare.

"I'm not shocked," said Eugene Devany, 58. "It can happen anywhere. I think they handled it very well."

But his daughter, Sara, 21, was more concerned. "I just didn't think that could happen in a church."

Laurain said the potentially tainted hosts were used up by the end of the Masses on Dec. 26. Hosts are kept in bowls called ciboria, and leftovers from Masses are often combined and used in later Masses.

About 1,300 people attended the 10:30 a.m. and noon Masses on Christmas, and 300 attended the 1:30 p.m. Mass, Laurain said. 

Fewer than 1,000 people attended the Masses the following day, and some may have been repeat attendees.

Friday's vaccination clinic follows clinics held Tuesday and Wednesday.

Citing privacy laws, Health Department officials are declining to identify the person who was infected with hepatitis A. 

People involved in the Communion process include priests, deacons and eucharistic ministers.

Asked how the potential additional contamination was discovered, Laurain said it came out in interviews during an ongoing investigation.

Laurain said it was unlikely parishioners would become infected through Communion hosts. 

Still, in consultation with state and federal health officials, the county decided to offer the additional vaccination clinic as a precaution.

Experts said it is possible, under specific conditions, for the hepatitis A virus to remain viable on a Communion host, or any hard surface, for weeks or even months.

Hepatitis A is marked by flulike symptoms, nausea, cramping, diarrhea, fever and, in some cases, jaundice. 

Treatment involves injection with immune globulin, which destroys the virus.

The vaccine, which is given as two shots six months apart, can provide lifelong immunity.

The vaccines are available until noon Friday at the church's auditorium, 855 Carmans Rd., Massapequa Park.

They are also available Friday by appointment only from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Nassau County Department of Health, 106 Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Uniondale. 

To make an appointment, call 516-227-9496.

SIC: NDCOM/USA