Here’s good news and bad on the health front.

The bad news is that hepatitis A outbreaks are erupting across the US.

The virus has been concentrated in states hard hit by the opioid epidemic.

Cases also are occurring among other drug users including those who share contaminated needles, homeless people, and men who have sex with men.

“The public thinks about hepatitis A as transmitted by restaurants,” said Neil Gupta of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“That’s not what is going on right now.”

The disease can be treated with rest and fluids, but many require hospitalization, and some cases are fatal.

It is prompting health departments to mount aggressive vaccination campaigns.

The good news is but for a single Hepatitis A case found in a Lexington County restaurant last May, no other cases have been reported in South Carolina or our 2 neighboring states.

In Tennessee, Florida and West Virginia, more than 2,000 cases have been reported since 2017, and in Kentucky it is twice that.

Since outbreaks began in 2016, 30 states reported more than 26,000 cases, including 268 deaths.

To protect yourself, see the What to Watch box.