Health officials in Barry are urging parents and carers of children aged five and under to accept free Hepatitis A vaccinations as an outbreak in the Vale of Glamorgan town continues to grow. Public Health Wales has confirmed 11 cases since December 2025, and while no single source has been pinpointed, vaccinating young children is seen as key to protecting them, their families and the wider community. The vaccination clinics will run at Barry Hospital from Tuesday, 18 August to Saturday, 22 August 2026.
Hepatitis A often produces no visible symptoms in young children, which health officials say makes it easier for the virus to spread undetected within households and childcare settings before being identified.
Why are officials focusing on young children?
According to Dr Chris Williams, a consultant epidemiologist at Public Health Wales, targeting the under-six age group is central to breaking the chain of transmission.
"The easiest place for it to spread from is from with young children under the age of six and so if we can vaccinate that age group that will prevent the transmission from those children and stop the spread," he said.
Families eligible for the free vaccine will be contacted directly by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board through a letter or text message inviting them to book an appointment. The offer applies to any child aged five or under who either lives in Barry or attends a childcare setting within the town.
How did the outbreak develop?
Concerns about local transmission first surfaced earlier in 2026, when Public Health Wales widened its warnings to include primary-school families in Barry, cautioning that the infection could be circulating in the community and emphasising handwashing as the primary defence, according to a Cardiff and Vale University Health Board statement. Health officials have since said the confirmed cases share the same viral strain and were identified across three separate households, a pattern that points toward ongoing local spread rather than a single contaminated source, per the same health board statement. In response, Public Health Wales and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board assembled a dedicated team of health specialists tasked with tracing how the virus is moving through the community and determining the appropriate next steps, the health board said.
What exactly is Hepatitis A and how serious is it?
Hepatitis A is a viral liver infection that spreads readily between people. Symptoms can include a high temperature, flu-like tiredness, headaches and muscle pain, nausea, stomach discomfort, dark-coloured urine, pale stools, and yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes.
Public Health Wales notes that the virus is typically contracted through close contact with an infected person, consuming food or drink handled by someone carrying the infection, or eating shellfish taken from water contaminated with sewage, according to the health body's official guidance on hepatitis A. Notably, the virus can be transmitted before any symptoms appear — people are generally most contagious from roughly two weeks before symptoms begin until about a week afterward, the guidance states.
Dr Williams said most cases resolve without lasting harm, though there are exceptions.
"In children it's usually self-limiting and In adults it usually is as well but occasionally if it affects people with underlying problems, maybe underlying liver problems, it can cause a very severe illness and disability," he added.
Is the vaccine safe?
Dr Williams sought to reassure parents and carers who may have concerns about vaccine safety.
"It's a very safe and effective vaccination. It's used across the world. It's a routine travel vaccination. Some places use it as part of their routine schedule. And we've already used it, on several hundred people in the Barry area to try and control the outbreak to date."
What happens next?
Public Health Wales has said it has already reached out to everyone identified as eligible for vaccination, and that residents who believe they should be vaccinated but have not been contacted should not approach their GP unless the request relates to travel vaccination, according to the health board's statement. The scheduled clinics at Barry Hospital between 18 and 22 August 2026 remain the primary route for eligible families to receive the free vaccine.
Key Facts
- 11 confirmed Hepatitis A cases in Barry since December 2025
- Free vaccines offered at Barry Hospital from 18 to 22 August 2026 for children aged five and under
- Cases linked to the same viral strain found across three separate households
- A specialist health team has been formed to investigate the outbreak's spread
- Residents not yet contacted should avoid GP visits unless for travel vaccination
