Holidaymakers jetting off to a popular European destination have been urged to get jabbed amid a fast-spreading outbreak of ‘dirty hands disease’.
Hundreds have fallen ill across the Czech Republic, including in the capital Prague, with a potentially deadly virus that can shut down the liver called hepatitis A.
Now, the Government-backed agency Travel Health Pro has issued a stark warning to Britons planning to visit and have urged them to get vaccinated against the infection.
The virus is spread through faeces, giving it the name ‘dirty hands disease’ among locals.
The virus inflames the liver, stopping it from working properly.
This can eventually cause jaundice—making the skin and the whites of the eyes turn yellow. It can also lead to dark urine and cause itchy skin.
The Czech Health Ministry warned: ‘The disease, also known as infectious jaundice, is spreading not only among children but also among adolescents and young adults, and among people with risky behaviour, especially among drug addicts and homeless people.’
As of May 5, the Czech Republic has recorded 450 confirmed cases of hepatitis A (Hep A), with six deaths reported.
Hundreds have fallen ill across the Czech Republic, including in the capital Prague, with a potentially deadly virus that can shut down the liver – hepatitis A
That’s a sharp rise compared to all of 2024, which saw 636 cases and two fatalities.
The hardest-hit areas so far are Central Bohemia (87 cases), Moravia-Silesia (83), and Prague (73).
Dr Macková, chief hygienist and director of the country’s national institute of public health, has raised the alarm over the dramatic rise, stating: ‘When we compare the figures for the whole of last year and just four months of this year, it is clear that we are seeing a sharp increase in cases. Hepatitis A affects regions across the country.
‘The transmission of the infection occurs mainly as a result of poor hygiene conditions.
‘Due to the long incubation period, often asymptomatic course, and increasing non-compliance with basic hygiene habits, the infection has very good conditions for spreading.
‘In the current situation, we recommend getting vaccinated before the start of holidays and vacations,’ added Dr Macková.
The country’s health chiefs have issued further guidance for travellers to cut their risk of infection.
‘It is recommended to avoid consuming raw salads and vegetables, fruit that you cannot peel yourself, ice cream, raw or semi-raw seafood, and oysters are especially dangerous.
‘In general, it is good to avoid undercooked foods and not use ice in drinks,’ said Dr Kateřina Fabiánová an infectious disease expert for the Czech public health authority.
Hepatitis A is largely asymptomatic in children, and it takes a while for the virus to cause symptoms in adults—meaning many could be unknowingly passing it on.
Fabiánová explained: ‘The time from infection to the development of symptoms of the disease is 14-50 days, most often 30 days.’
Health chiefs have warned that some travellers are at higher risk.
They say that people staying with locals, frequent travellers, men who have sex with men and those with existing medical conditions such as liver disease are most at risk.
Hep A vaccines are not routinely given in the UK due to the low risk of getting the infection.
But the NHS does advise the jab for travellers heading to places where the virus is more common.
These include parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America.
Hepatitis A is a very rare cause of death in the UK — between 2005 and 2021, 42 deaths were recorded with hepatitis A as an underlying cause.
