Health alert issued by Brisbane Grammar School after volunteer canteen worker contracts hepatitis A

Sorenne will not be going to the Brisbane Grammar School for grades 6-12. It’s not the $20,000 a year in tuition, another $20,000 a year for boarding, the $400 for the privilege of applying or that it’s an all-boys school.

I have problems when a school with such a fee structure – or any school — relies on volunteers to run the tuckshop that offers breakfast and lunch, and when a volunteer contracts hepatitis A, the best the school can come up with is, the canteen abides by the proper standards and, “Full food-handling protocol is followed in the school.”

I don’t know what full food-handling protocol is, but some details would be nice. Maybe even a vaccination requirement for all volunteers.

The Courier Mail reports the school told its community by letter on Tuesday, on the urging of public health authorities, that they were under a low-level risk of Hepatitis A.

"We were told a volunteer worker had subsequently been diagnosed with Hep A after she had worked at the canteen,” said a spokeswoman.

"The public health authority spoke to the worker, figured out what she did and when they found out it involved food, as a precautionary measure asked the school to advise everyone. The risk is deemed to be extremely low."

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time