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ATLANTA (AP) - All children between ages 1 and 2 should be vaccinated against the hepatitis A virus, a national vaccine panel recommended Wednesday.
About 25 percent of hepatitis A cases occur in children, but many adults get the disease from infected youngsters, health officials said. The virus, which attacks the liver and can cause fever, diarrhea and jaundice, is sometimes caused by eating food contaminated with feces.
It is rarely fatal. But in 2003, nearly 600 people were sickened by hepatitis and three died in the nation's largest outbreak. The cause was blamed on contaminated onions served at a Pennsylvania restaurant.
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