Healthcare, 60 hepatitis A patients at Cotugno hospital in Naples: “Numbers above normal”

Naples, Mar. 21 (LaPresse) – There are 51 patients hospitalized for hepatitis A at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, with 9 people in the emergency room. The data was provided by Raffaele Di Sarno, head of the infectious disease and pulmonology emergency department at the Neapolitan hospital specialized in the treatment of infectious diseases. The patients, the doctor assures, “are all doing well, these are currently uncomplicated hepatitis cases and therefore not a cause for concern.” The average age of the patients is between 30 and 40 years. All reported to doctors that they had eaten raw seafood. The cases are spread “throughout the province of Naples and also in the Caserta area – Di Sarno added – we are also receiving reports from other hospitals that are currently treating similar patients.” According to Di Sarno, “it cannot be defined as an epidemic, in the sense that we always expect a spike in cases after Christmas, due to the consumption of mussels and our eating habits. This time, however, it surprised us, we have reached numbers that are above normal, but we are absolutely not talking about an epidemic.”