Well, Hep A or C? Pick one. I, for one, have my doubts about this story. Hep c is a bloodborne disease, the same as HIV.
Here’s what the CDC has to say.
Unless the Subway worker was dripping fresh blood or ejaculate onto the sandwich, which is hard to do since the sandwiches are made in full view of the customer and the workers always wear gloves, I’d say that it is highly unlikely that the kid got Hep C from a Subway product. Subway needs to get new legal counsel.
I wasn’t making a crack about doctors. I was making a serious statement. I’ve worked in the health care field for over 10 years now, in direct contact with patients as an X-Ray tech and, for the last 6 years, as a nuclear medicine tech. I’ve seen doctors miss things that patients could theoretically die from, I’ve seen doctors practicing outside of their scope, I’ve seen them make huge mistakes and I’ve seen much incompetence.
I think that covers the “insubstantial” point.
Now, I’m not saying that US Doctors as a group are crummy, on the contrary, most are great at what they do, but they are human, just like the rest of us. Nevertheless, many people tend to follow what they say, whether that advice/opinion/etc is medically-based or not. And what I AM trying to say is what I said originally, that they are given too much credit most of the time (especially by the elderly). And when one or more of these “pillars of society” makes a statement, even one as idiotic as not wanting to go to any Subway ever again because of a singular incident, people tend listen.
I think that covers the “unsubstantiated” point.
If it was Hep A, then it is possible to get it from an infected food service worker who made a sandwich after going to the toilet without washing his hands in between, since Hep A is most commonly transmitted by the fecal-oral route (shudder). According to the CDC, there is no long-term infection for Hep A, so the kid’s prognosis is good.
Does anybody read these threads before they contribute?
Gobear, go back and read the effing thread. I corrected myself in the very post you’re arguing with.
And Demo, I obviously work with doctors too. Maybe because I work rather closely with three highly regarded doctors, all with substantial research and publishing reputations (I work in a teaching hospital), and all specialists at the top of their respective fields, my experience has not left me as jaded as yours has you. Perhaps if I worked less closely with a greater number of doctors I’d share your cynicism.
Also I must ask you, too, to read before you write: it was not a “singular” experience. There were two separate outbreaks, four years apart, at stores run by two different franchisees. This, to me, places some part of the responsibility on Subway’s corporate management. Thus, as I said, it’s less of a medical decision to boycott Subway than a refusal to give my money to a company that cares so little for the health of its customers.
Except [read the damn thread!], the short term effect was that the kid almost died, and required an emergency liver transplant against type, and is still waiting for a second transplant while they spend their growing years on major doses of drugs that compromise their immune system and interfere with their growth.
Ahem, I read the “effing” thread before I posted, thankyouverymuch. You were, IMHO, a tad too cavalier in switching from “the kid caught Hep C and won’t live to spend his settlement” to “Oh, he caught Hep A.” It didn’t sound to me like you knew the difference. Working in a clinic doesn’t automatically confer medical knowledge, especially since you wrote
Yeah, I got that, but what I’m questioning is the variety of Hep the kid got and whether it is traceable to the sandwich. Hep A does not usually cause total liver failure,
which is why I’m curious. Given that Subway settled, I’m going to assume that the lab turned up some pretty damning evidence that the kid did in fact get infected from that store.
Wait a sec, you only mentioned the one outbreak in 1996. In reference to your clinic’s patient, one child with hep does not constitute an outbreak.
In any event, I am not especially worried about going to Subway because the stats favor me not catching it, and I always check to make sure the worker is wearing gloves. If eating at Subway makes you nervous, think about what must go on at kitchens where you can’t see the food being prepared. I caught a nasty case of shigella from eating at a 4-star hotel restaurant in Bangkok.
Two outbreaks: one in 1996, one in 2000, with 31 people infected, one of which became our clinic’s patient when an emergency liver transplant became necessary. One in 31 fits OK, I think, with your “not usually.”
And no, I’m not a medical worker, which is why I got the letters mixed up. The kid’s doctor is currently working on two concurrent hep C studies, which I’ve been coordinating, and so I had “hep C” ingrained in my typing fingers from recent overuse. Again, sorry for the mixup: I should have looked up the record before I posted.
Thanks for the clarification.
You’re welcome. Sorry to have initially written to have made clarification necessary.
FYI, though I can’t offer any further specifics because of hospital confidentiality constraints, when I searched the Web for other such occurrences I found many references to this particular case.
Do they offer vegemite as a condiment on Subway subs down under?
You assume to much, lissener. I do read before I write. You posted that follow up as I was composing my reply to your post at 10:16.
And I, apparently, can’t spell.
TOO much…
Arrgh.
COUGHCOUGHPTOOOEYhttp://www.cantonrep.com/newstemplate_main.php?ID=73309&r=6COUGH
This case seems to have some similarities with the one in discussion. I’m sure it’s totally coincidental. 
Ahhh!
I went there the other day.
Asked for the cold cut trio.
Told the girl, to cut out some of the cold cuts.
She said, “I can’t!”
It seemed they wwere wrapped together, but i THINK she could’ve just used her hand and taken some away.
Gad! Nope, she HAD to do it, to add them all.
Store rules or just her incompetence.
PS it was me!!!
Mwahh ha ha!
Seriously though, if you ask them, they will still do the “old” cut.
In some Subways they even ask you.
Oh please do tell…
FWIW, I love the Steak & Cheese, though I do get slightly annoyed when I’m asked, “Do you want cheese with that?”
Best Foods Mayonnaise?
Heave, retch. gag. barf
Yes… your rarified tastes are to be worshipped.
:rolleyes:
Tell me about it. It really pisses me off how their advertising campaign compared their sandwich without cheese, mayo, and oil (all of which they put on it unless you request otherwise) to a Big Mac WITH cheese and sauce. Besides which, they really shouldn’t compare their turkey sandwich to McD’s burger. If they were honest, they would compare the Big Mac to the meatball sandwich, and the turkey sandwich to McD’s grilled chicken sandwich. At the least, it’s misleading. At the most, it’s false advertising.
No, do they offer peanut butter and jelly as a condiment on Subway subs in America?
Or if you are concerned about nose-picking, ass-wiping, non-hand-washing people touching your food, you should swear off any food you don’t make yourself. I’ve seen some revolting examples in popular chain sit-down family restaurants.