Published Oct 3, 2012 at 6:00 am
The Hepatitis C virus which some Bermudians who attended Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland may have been exposed to.
Some Bermudians may have been infected with Hepatitis C while patients at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the US facility has asked the Bermuda Hospitals Board to assist in collecting blood to forward to them for testing.
The Baltimore, Maryland facility is investigating whether a hospital worker infected with the disease could have spread it to its patients.
“Infection control experts at the Johns Hopkins Hospital are continuing their investigation into whether any hospital patients were exposed to Hepatitis C while a cardiac catheterisation technologist, since implicated as the source of an outbreak of the viral infection in a New Hampshire hospital, worked here,” said a Johns Hopkins spokesman.
The information came to light in July and is now being handled at high levels of the US Government with both the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene and the Center for Disease Control involved.
When contacted by The Royal Gazette, BHB Interim Chief of Staff Dr Victor Scott said: “Patients potentially exposed are being contacted directly by Johns Hopkins.”
He also confirmed that the board “has been asked by Johns Hopkins to assist by collecting blood and forwarding to them for testing”.
“The Hepatitis C virus can cause a chronic liver infection which in some patients leads to progressive liver damage and which in a small percentage of patients will require liver transplantation. Effective medications are available to eradicate the virus and more effective ones are in the developmental pipeline,” said Dr Scott.
The issue centres around a technologist who contaminated syringes that were later used on patients at the US hospital.
Technologist, David Kwiatkowski worked at Johns Hopkins for two 13-week periods from July 10 2009 to January 9 2010. He was not an employee of the prestigious Baltimore hospital but worked for an agency that placed him there.
According to the release, 223 Johns Hopkins patients may have had procedures performed in the same cardiac catheterisation laboratory where Mr Kwiatkowski worked. Many more patients had procedures in rooms nearby and to which he had possible access.
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that attacks the liver. It is considered among the most serious types of hepatitis infection. Most people infected show no symptoms. In fact in many instances the virus goes undetected until liver disease becomes apparent decades later.
The disease is spread through contaminated blood. In the majority of cases it’s passed through the sharing of needles by illicit drug users.
According to a CBS news report, authorities in New Hampshire allege that Mr Kwiatkowski injected himself with anaesthetic drugs stolen from a lab at Exeter Hospital, contaminating syringes later used on patients.
A total of 1,567 Johns Hopkins patients have been sent letters notifying them of the situation and offering them free testing and counselling. Kim Hoppe, associate director of Communications and Public Affairs for Johns Hopkins could not say how many of the letters were sent to Bermudians.
At least one Bermudian received a letter and went for testing.
If you or someone you know had a cardiac catheterisation at Johns Hopkins Hospital between July 10, 2009 and January 9, 2010 call the toll-free number 1-855-546-3785.
Patients are being told the results of their tests, with counselling arranged for any patients with the infection.
Johns Hopkins is one of several hospitals possibly affected and now offering free testing.
Mr Kwiatkowski also worked at:
Ÿ Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne, Michigan between January and September 2007;
Ÿ Saint Francis Hospital, Poughkeepsie, New York between November 2007 and February 2008;
Ÿ Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center between May 2008 and November 2008;
Ÿ Southern Maryland Hospital, Clinton, Maryland between December 2008 and February 2009;
Ÿ Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland between July 2009 and January 2010;
Ÿ Maryland General Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland between January 2010 and March 2010;
Ÿ Hays Medical Center, Hays, Kansas between May 2010 and September 2010;
Ÿ Houston Medical Center, Warner Robins, Georgia between October 2010 and March 2011.
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