Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546315
SARAH* was due to start IVF treatment when she was admit- ted to hospital with Hepatitis A, in the outbreak linked to Deli & Co in Qormi. The illness delayed the process. She spent a week in hospital on an intravenous drip. Her symp- toms had begun with extreme tiredness, lethargy and a com- plete loss of appetite, and within a week she also developed short- ness of breath. "I had very little energy and could barely eat at times, I could only manage to drink water to freshen up," Sarah said. She went to see a doc- tor, who diagnosed an infection under the diaphragm and pre- scribed medication. When jaundice be- gan to appear, she assumed it was a side effect of the medicine, but the itching, dark urine and yellowing of her eyes kept getting worse, and she went back to her GP. Once her GP saw the severity of the jaundice, he sent her straight to hospital, where she spent a full week on drip while doctors monitored liver results, she described as ex- tremely high. "It is frightening to think about how much worse the conse- quences could have been if I had already been pregnant at the time," she added, referring to the IVF treatment she had been due to start. "Or for people who are self-employed, or who already suffer from certain conditions." She took every precaution she could, including frequent hand- washing, and did not pass the infection on to anyone at home. "These are basic precautions that should be standard when handling food," she said. "I am extremely angry about what has happened and, in particu- lar, about the fact that after everything people have gone through, the shop continued op- erating as normal." Sarah added: "Seeing a post from the business just yesterday, promoting itself as if nothing had happened, felt like a real stab in the back." 13 days in hospital Sarah and Elena* got to know each other after both comment- ed on posts about Deli & Co. "That is what initially brought us into contact," Sarah said. "We felt the need to speak to some- one going through a similar ex- perience, so we could compare symptoms and see whether we were experiencing the same things." Elena spent 13 days in hospital after contracting Hepatitis A. She had eaten food from the out- let on 22 June, 25 June and 2 July. Her symptoms began in the second week of July. Extreme tiredness accompanied by severe headaches with pain behind her eyes and a fever of around 39°C. At Mater Dei Emergency De- partment doctors recorded sig- nificant inflammation, with no clear cause. "At one point, I was even told that a brain infection was a pos- sibility, which terrified me," Ele- na said. Doctors said there was nothing to justify keeping her in hospital, and she was prescribed antibi- otics and paracetamol and sent home. She got worse the next day but held off returning, wait- ing for the medication to work. The day after, her boyfriend no- ticed her colour changing and took her back. After more blood tests doctors told her that her liver results were extremely abnormal. "I was told that one of my liv- er markers was 128 times higher than it should have been," Elena said. She was admitted and told her recovery would take a long time, with doctors needing to run numerous tests since they still did not know exactly what was wrong with her. "At that point, I completely broke down, both mentally and physically," she said, having had to spend 13 days in hospital. She was diagnosed with Hepatitis A. Elena has since recovered. What frustrates her most, she said, is that the public was not warned when the establish- ment's chef was known to have Hepatitis A. "If Deli & Co knew that an em- ployee involved in food prepara- tion had Hepatitis A, customers who may have been exposed should have been informed, or at the very least the public warned," she said. "People who ate there could then have sought medical advice and testing and taken precautions to protect their families." Cluster now stands at 10 cases Public health authorities have confirmed to MaltaToday that the cluster has continued to grow. Four further cases were identified through follow-up testing, in addition to the four laboratory-confirmed cases pre- viously linked to the outbreak, bringing the total among people who ate at the establishment to eight. The food handler and one direct contact were also con- firmed, taking the overall total to 10. The authorities said the estab- lishment cooperated with them, and that the handler was exclud- ed from work once diagnosed. The relevant infectious period was between 17 and 25 June; given the incubation period for Hepatitis A, anyone exposed then would have been expected to show symptoms by 14 August. "Public Health Authorities continue to remain vigilant and will take all necessary measures to safeguard public health, in collaboration with the compe- tent authorities responsible for food safety," the statement said. *The names have been changed to protect privacy. 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 26 AUGUST 2026 NEWS JULIANA ZAMMIT jzammit@mediatoday.com.mt How Hepatitis A left one woman's IVF on hold, and put another in hospital for 13 days File Photo. Inset: The eating establishment Deli & Co (Photo: James Banchi/MaltaToday)