Akkar medical center denies hepatitis A cases in school

The head of the Akkar sanitary department, Dr. Hassan al-Adra, on Friday denied reports circulating in certain local media outlets and on social media, claiming that hepatitis A cases had been recorded at a school in this northern region of the country, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA).

"This information is completely unfounded," the doctor said, stressing "the need to check official health sources before spreading this type of news, which only serves to cause unjustified panic and fear among parents."

Hepatitis A is a mild and contagious viral infection that mainly affects children and is transmitted through contaminated water or food. It is characterized by the following symptoms: jaundice, fever, fatigue and abdominal pain.

Adra stated that, in this context, his teams "regularly carry out rounds in schools and educational institutions, and [invite] their administrations to conduct periodic tests of drinking water in order to check its quality and safety." He also reassured that the health situation in schools is "healthy and under constant surveillance."

A hundred cases of hepatitis had been recorded in the village of Kamed al-Loz, in the Bekaa, in April 2024. During similar cases in June 2022 across Lebanese territory, with one of the epicenters in the city of Tripoli (northern Lebanon), the president of the Beirut Order of Physicians, Joseph Bakhache, explained that the speed of the disease's spread was typically due to lack of access to drinking water, pollution and failure to follow personal hygiene measures.