350 more get shots in church hepatitis scare
Eugene and Sara Devany talk to a reporter after getting a preventive shot at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Massapequa Park. (Jan. 7, 2011) Credit: Newsday / Ed Betz
Nearly 350 people received shots against hepatitis A on Friday at a Massapequa Park church as health officials explained why it took them several days to discover more people were potentially exposed than originally thought.
The Nassau County Health Department first learned during the New Year's weekend that someone involved in the Communion process at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church during Christmas services was infected with hepatitis A, department spokeswoman Mary Ellen Laurain said.
Monday, the department announced it would hold vaccination clinics Tuesday and Wednesday for people who received Communion at the 10:30 a.m. and noon Masses on Christmas Day.
But it was not until they re-interviewed people involved, Laurain said, that health officials learned Communion hosts touched by the infected person at the first two Masses may have been mixed in with hosts used in at six subsequent Masses - one on Christmas and five the next day, a Sunday. Catholic churches commonly mix leftover hosts at the end of Masses in a ciborium, or bowl.
No one yet is known to have contracted the virus, the Health Department says, but the incubation period is 15 to 45 days.While some parishioners Friday seemed to take the hepatitis A scare in stride and praised their pastor, TV commentator Msgr. James Lisante, others such as Chris Layer criticized him for not being present or communicating with parishioners.
"Where are you? Where is your leadership?" she said. Lisante did not return messages seeking comment.
What local police departments do to combat the problem Suffolk created a street takeover task force in 2024 that has broken up more than 100 incidents in the county.
What local police departments do to combat the problem Suffolk created a street takeover task force in 2024 that has broken up more than 100 incidents in the county.
