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