KAILUA-KONA — Four more employees of Shiono Sushi Waikoloa were cleared to return to work as of Wednesday after testing negative for hepatitis A — bringing the total number to 10 so far. ADVERTISING KAILUA-KONA — Four more employees of
KAILUA-KONA — Four more employees of Shiono Sushi Waikoloa were cleared to return to work as of Wednesday after testing negative for hepatitis A — bringing the total number to 10 so far.
The restaurant’s 25 employees were all ordered to be tested for the virus after an employee there tested positive earlier this month. Employees must test negative before they can return to work.
The employee diagnosed with hepatitis A is thought to have contracted the virus on Oahu. Store management said she is recovering away from the restaurant and cannot return to work until she tests negative.
Employees from the company’s Kailua-Kona and Mauna Lani locations have been working at the Waikoloa store so it can remain open while its employees are tested..
Although employees at those locations aren’t required to be tested for hepatitis A, Shiono Sushi administrating manager Yuka Kawakami said the company wants to test all 98 employees at its three locations.
The state Department of Health announced the confirmed case of the Shiono Sushi employee Tuesday. The Health Department said anybody who ate at the Waikoloa restaurant between July 5 and July 21 might have been exposed to the disease, though the likelihood of infection is “very low.”
Kawakami said the store will watch for any indication of an infection stemming from the store but, so far, there haven’t been any.
“We haven’t gotten any reports somebody’s been infected,” she said.
Kawakami on Wednesday said she ate food from the restaurant herself during that time frame and her blood test came back negative. She added that she hasn’t been telling customers they need to get vaccinated, saying that is a choice they should make on their own.
“That’s their option,” she said, “not something we have to tell them.”
While there haven’t been any reports of illness, the company is advising concerned customers who ate at the restaurant during the exposure window to monitor their health conditions and, if symptoms arise, consult their health care providers.
Symptoms of hepatitis A include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal discomfort, dark urine, diarrhea and yellow skin and eyes.
Kawakami said the store is still running its regular operations and customers are still coming in.
“Since we don’t have any positive employees, we don’t need to close,” she said.
Gail Ogawa, public health educator, said the DOH releases notifications about hepatitis A diagnoses in food service workers as a way to notify the public when a restaurant is unable to inform customers who might have been exposed.
“Future customers wouldn’t be considered exposed,” she said.
Those who ate at the restaurant during that time frame can receive a vaccination or immune globulin within two weeks of the possible exposure if they so chose. Beyond two weeks after exposure, Ogawa said, customers should keep an eye on their health and call their health care provider about any concerns.
She added the DOH doesn’t normally recommend people who aren’t food service workers get tested for the infection unless they are showing symptoms.
Ogawa said the source of the outbreak, which is up to 93 confirmed cases, remains under investigation. All of the diagnoses have been in adults who were on Oahu during their exposure period, she said.
Email Cameron Miculka at cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com.
