| No Images? Click here   A deadly disease is surging nationwide, and you've probably heard next to nothing about it. Lauren Weber, who's been following the story, looked into the numbers and found that hepatitis A cases are up 28 percent this year — and there's not enough vaccine to meet the demand. We asked her about all this. How did this story come about? My colleague Dana Liebelson and I reported out a story on San Diego's hepatitis A outbreak — in which the city was washing the streets with bleach and handing out plastic poop bags — and soon found San Diego's situation wasn't unique. Separate outbreaks were happening across the country, from Michigan to New York — they just weren't getting national media attention. So, I worked together with Alissa Scheller, our amazing visuals editor, to show just how bad this had gotten. In the reporting process, I found that hepatitis A cases are up 28 percent nationally and there's a "constrained supply" of the vaccine, which is alarming for fighting these outbreaks. What was the hardest part of the reporting, writing or editing process? The hardest part was making sure all the numbers translated to the page. Each of these outbreaks had separate start dates, some in 2016, some this year, so visualizing that in a way that made sense took some plotting. What surprised you most? I was shocked that each state only gets $90,000 from the CDC for combating viral hepatitis, which includes hepatitis A, B and C. Various public health officials consistently stressed that limited public health funds were hamstringing prevention efforts and that the limited supply of vaccine could only be bad news for future prevention efforts. Seattle, which has the third-largest homeless population and is thus vulnerable to a potential outbreak, will only be receiving some of the just 40 vaccines allocated to Washington each month. What did you learn that could help other writers or reporters? Always go to your visuals editors, as they'll reveal parts of the story you hadn't realized. This story started out just as a map of where these outbreaks were nationwide, then morphed into a full-blown feature once the numbers showed how dire this situation had gotten. That, in turn, led me to my reporting on the limited supply of vaccine. What do you want readers to take away from this story? Two major things: First, hepatitis A, which is preventable by vaccine, is on the rise nationally, not just in California. And this limited supply of vaccine is very concerning for fighting it moving forward. Secondly, years of cuts to public health funding have decreased the budget to properly address such outbreaks, much less prevent them. Want to see where the hepatitis A outbreaks are near you? Click the big green button.
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