CORRECTED - UPDATE 1-US panel widens recommendations on hepatitis A jab

(Corrects to clarify timing of shot and show that woman survived her infection, paragraphs 2, 4)

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO, Feb 25 (Reuters) - U.S. citizens who expect to have close contact with an adopted child from countries with high rates of hepatitis A should be immunized if they have not been already, U.S. immunization advisers said on Wednesday.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said unvaccinated people who will have close contact with the child within the first 60 days of the adoptee's arrival in the United States should get the vaccine.

Prior recommendations covered only parents traveling to countries with high or intermediate rates of infection.

"Recently, there have been cases of family members who have gotten sick after kids have been adopted," said Dr. Cindy Weinbaum, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC. She said there had been about 20 cases, including a 51-year-old adoptive grandmother who became gravely ill.

Weinbaum said the recommendations cover adoptions from countries with a high or intermediate infection risk.

"That includes most of the world. All that (it) excludes is North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan," she said.

Hepatitis A is a highly contagious viral infection of the liver caused by putting something into the mouth that was contaminated with stool. Symptoms can include fever, jaundice, nausea and vomiting.