Local homeless vulnerable to another Hepatitis A outbreak

Local groups are concerned that current changing weather might cause another Hepatitis A outbreak among the Calexico homeless.

Maribel Padilla, Co-founder of Brown Bag Coalitions, said, “Some of them already have colds, they have the sniffles. That’s why we started telling them yesterday, make sure you come to the health fair so you can get some kind of help and if you have your medical you can go to the clinic and get some services there.”

The Calexico Wellness Center and the Brown Bag Coalition joined forces on Friday to host a health fair for them.

Blanca Morales, CEO for Calexico Wellness Center, said, “We’re here to prevent cancer. We’re here to prevent any type of outbreaks, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B.”

Padilla said there are about 125 homeless in the area. She said they’re vulnerable to diseases, especially in unstable weather.

“There’s outbreaks. You have the hepatitis a, that’s very contagious. So, we want to be able to give them those vaccinations. We want to be able to give them educational information on what can happen when they’re out there and not having good hygiene as far as themselves,” Morales said

Morales said many homeless do not know they qualify for health and other services under various programs.

“Whatever the issues may be, why they’re homeless, is to kind of get them back on track and sometimes you can do that, so that’s something we want to accomplish,” Morales said.

The Calexico Welnness Center is located at 420 Heffernan Avenue in Calexico.