Hepatitis A contributed to the birth of the“public health at large” / 上海预防医学

ABSTRACT

China has consistently attached importance to health work .However , this health work has been limited to the health work in a narrow sense for long and people lack a sense of the public health at large for the whole society .In 1988 , Hepatitis A broke out and brought disaster to 300 thousand people in Shanghai .After completing systematic investigations , it was ascertained that this outbreak arose from eating raw clams contaminated by Hepatitis A virus .After prohibiting eating clams and implementing Hepatitis A vaccination over a long period , the incidence rate of Hepatitis A has been reduced to below 1/100 000 . The prevention and treatment of Hepatitis A and the control of clams are related to the environment control , aquaculture, commerce, sanitation, epidemic prevention, food safety and other related industries .In the course of controlling the outbreak of Hepatitis A , Shanghai managed to implement the “public health at large”. By attaching importance to the “public health at large”, Shanghai has strengthened the construction of its public health system , improved citizens ’ sense of health and promoted the health level for the whole society .