400 at Massapequa Park church for vaccine

More than 400 members of Our Lady of Lourdes Church filed into the Massapequa Park parish Tuesday to receive preventive treatment against hepatitis A, which may have been passed during two Christmas Day services.

Meanwhile, health officials said there were no reports of illness among church members, who were offered vaccines at a makeshift clinic Tuesday and Wednesday.

"There have been no secondary transmissions from the original person," said health department spokeswoman Mary Ellen Laurain.

Tuesday, John and Rose Fredericks of Massapequa Park arrived at the clinic hand-in-hand. They had taken Holy Communion on Christmas, but said they have exhibited no symptoms.

"We didn't know anything about this," Rose Fredericks, 85, said, referring to the health scare, until a neighbor alerted her to the risk. John Fredericks, 89, said the couple was getting vaccinated as a precaution.

Joseph Visale, past president of the Massapequa Chamber of Commerce and a member of the church, also noted he has not had any symptoms. "I am not the least bit worried," he said.

"All protocols were followed," Laurain said Tuesday, noting the infected person was treated by a physician, who in turn notified the Nassau County Department of Health because the infection is a mandated reportable disease.

Sean Dolan, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, would not name the infected person, saying, "Right now the public health concerns don't outweigh the privacy rights of the individual. Whether it's a layperson or a priest, there are privacy issues that need to be respected."

A source who was briefed on the probe said the infected person did not realize he or she was ill until after Christmas Day. The patient sought out a doctor and was hospitalized.

By law, government health agencies must be notified of any hepatitis A cases because of the potential threat to public health. Dolan said the church was not considering changing its policy to require those who serve communion to wear gloves, but was emphasizing hand washing.

Laurain reiterated Tuesday that the potential for widespread infection among parishioners is remote and the clinic was a prophylactic measure.

Doctors say there is a window of two weeks from exposure to the emergence of symptoms.

With Michael Amon,

Zachary R. Dowdy and Yamiche Alcindor