Section 690.450  Hepatitis A (Reportable by telephone, facsimile, or electronically as soon as possible, within 24 hours)

a)         Control of Case

1)         Cases shall be excluded from work as food handlers, health care workers or in sensitive occupations nor attend or work in childcare facilities for seven days after onset of jaundice or two weeks after onset of initial symptoms, if jaundice is not present.

2)         Health care workers shall not have direct patient contact or contact with patient environment and food for seven days after onset of jaundice or two weeks after onset of initial symptoms if jaundice is not present.

b)         Control of Contacts

1)         A susceptible contact to an infectious case of hepatitis A, who is also a food handler, shall be excluded from work as a food handler for 28 days from the last exposure to the infectious case unless the contact has received a hepatitis A prophylaxis for the current exposure within 14 days of exposure.  Food handling employees who work with the case are also considered contacts. 

2)         Local health authorities may require exclusions for susceptible contacts who work in sensitive occupations or as health care workers or susceptible contacts who attend or work in a child care facility for 28 days from last exposure to an infectious case unless the contact has received hepatitis A prophylaxis for the current exposure within 14 days of exposure, and if there is a reason to believe exclusions are necessary (e.g., the nature of the work, including, but not limited to, feeding or oral care, hygienic practices of the worker, or as part of the investigation of a cluster).

3)         Guidelines for hepatitis A vaccine or immune globulin (IG) administration for susceptible contacts are specified in Section 690.20(b)(1), (2) and (3).

4)         Administration of IG is not recommended for symptomatic contacts, but testing is recommended to verify the diagnosis.

c)         Sale of Food, Milk, etc.  (See Section 690.30(b).)

d)         Laboratory Reporting  

1)         Laboratories shall report to the local health authority patients who have a positive result on any laboratory test indicative of and specific for detecting acute hepatitis A infection, including IgM specific antibodies to the hepatitis A virus (total antibody is not reportable).  Upon request, laboratories shall provide liver function test results for suspect cases of hepatitis A.

2)         Laboratories shall hold any serum specimens positive for hepatitis A IgM antibodies for up to 14 days after collection, and upon request, submit clinical specimens to the Department's laboratory for further testing.

(Source:  Amended at 48 Ill. Reg. 4098, effective February 27, 2024)