Deadly Hepatitis A Outbreaks Are Exposing Crumbling U.S. Public Health Infrastructure

States, counties and cities have spent millions to fight their local outbreaks, but the money doesn’t address the root causes of the problem: a decaying public health infrastructure, devastated by years of funding cuts, that can’t fully meet the needs of a population driven to homelessness and devastated by the opioid epidemic.

“Unfortunately, I see this hepatitis A outbreak as a symptom of the fraying social safety net,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, a public health officer for Seattle and King County, Washington.

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Infrastructure: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)