The Hepatitis C epidemic
is discovering what was.
In 1988, 242,000 Hepatitis C
infections were reported annually. These high
figures were reported throughout 1970's &
1980's. Since 1989, and mandatory heating
or washing of blood products, the annual number
of new infections declined 80 % by 1998.
Universal precaution became mandatory in 1996.
But, preconceived ideas and notions have
stifled awareness to the many transmission
methods, discovered yearly, for this disease. |
October 26, 2005 Md. General To Repay $55,029 To
Medicaid Hospital Settles Over Unverifiable HIV Test
Results- Maryland General sent out hundreds of
potentially incorrect AIDS and Hepatitis C test results
last March, leading to Congressional hearings into
the hospital's quality.
Click here
|
Oct. 26, 2005 FDA warns about unscreened human tissue
The Associated Press... the firm
illegally bought body parts from funeral homes to
sell to tissue processors... sold human
tissue to processors for eventual implantation into
people because it may not have been properly screened
for infections.
Click here |
|
Oct. 2005 Professor: Most
people with hepatitis C don't know it- By Beverly J.
Lydick/Tribune staff- Most people infected with the
hepatitis C virus aren't even aware of it, a
University of Massachusetts Medical School professor
testified Friday in Dodge County District Court.
Click here |
Oct. 2005
"This is a low estimate,"
said Dr. Weiss, because less than half of the surgical
cases were tested. Review SAN FRANCISCO
- John Hopkins Surgeons Warned!
....study presented at the annual meeting of the
American College of Surgeons. 33% of surgical patients
had Hep C. "This is a low estimate," said Dr. Weiss
Click
here |
|
Oct. 2005 FIVE MILLION
AMERICANS INFECTED WITH THE HEPATITIS C VIRUS: A
CORRECTED ESTIMATE AASLD Nov 2005 Brian R. Edlin,
Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York,
NY…of these, approximately 3.4 million are currently
infected (chronic HCV)…
Click here |
|
10/3/2005 Tattooing Is an Independent Risk Factor for
HCV Infection on the El Paso, Texas-Mexico Border
The role of non sterile tattooing practices in HCV
transmission merits additional examination in regard
to precise risk settings, frequency and mechanisms of
infection.”
Click here
|
Sept 21, 2005 VA dental clinic warns patients some
instruments were not sterilized By Karen Kane,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A patient of a dental clinic at
the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Butler filed a
legal claim .. some clinic instruments were not
sterilized between uses. ..shut down the clinic between
March and May, and in June, sent letters to 2,000
patients who had visited it from 1999
|
|
Sept. 1, 2005
Bethesda, Maryland Most chronic hepatitis C
sufferers will develop cirrhosis in later life-...
nearly inevitable.. 80 percent ... will develop
cirrhosis
Click here |
22/09/05
London law firm to probe blood scandal By Evelyn Ring A
LONDON-based law firm has been engaged by the Government
to investigate the role played by US-based
pharmaceutical firms in the blood contamination scandal.
Click here
|
Sep 2005 Fears hep C rife in
jail population
By Tanya Nolan for AM A prisoner advocacy group says its
research shows more than one third of the nation's
prison population now has hepatitis C
Click here |
Sept 2005 Hospital loses
benefits appeal
By ROBIN LORD STAFF WRITER
A state Appeals Court ... favor of a former Cape Cod
Hospital emergency room technician, ..denied workers'
compensation benefits ...after she became infected with
hepatitis C through a needle stick at work.
Click here |
Sept 15, 2005 The Journal of
Infectious Diseases
;192:1088-1092-Reemergence of Hepatitis C Virus after
8.5 Years in a Patient with Hypogammaglobulinemia:
Evidence for an Occult Viral Reservoir
Click here |
Sept 8, 2005 Tattoo business
patrons contact health department By KRISTIN BUEHNER, Of
The Globe Gazette People who have had tattoos or body
piercing at Freeky Inks Tattoos are urged to get tested
for HIV and Hepatitis B and C, blood-borne pathogens
that can be transmitted if instruments contaminated with
blood are not sterilized or used appropriately between
clients.
Click here |
|
Sep 2005 'Addict'
doctor is accused of killing with dirty needles From
Graham Keeley in Barcelona-63 patients died, 276
people, including 17 children, over a ten-year
period....denies that he had a heroin addiction and
claims....caught the virus through contact with
infected patients.
Click here |
Sep 2005 Source: Reuters
Hepatitis C threatens new generation..... found
antibodies to hepatitis C ...,in 18.1% .. residents
and 22.1% .. army recruits. The number ..
rises with age ...41% of persons over 50 ...The vast
majority must represent sporadic transmission.
Click here
|
|
Sep 15 2005 HIV warning for
patients treated by bogus dentist MORE than 600
patients may have been put at risk of contracting
HIV and hepatitis after they were treated by a bogus
dentist...Click
Here |
Aug. 24, 2005 Hospital Asks
Patients to Get HIV Test
LEESBURG, Va. - Inova
Loudoun Hospital is asking 144 patients who
underwent endoscopic exams
Click here
|
|
August 12, 2005 WHO INTRODUCES A
WEBSITE ON THE SAFE MANAGEMENT OF HEALTHCARE WASTE
..Poor management of HCW exposes healthcare workers,
waste handlers, and the community to infections, toxic
effects, and injuries.
Click here |
|
|
Aug 2, 2005 LAS VEGAS Local
cities facing estimated $2.8 billion liability over next
30 years- State laws requiring compensation for public
safety workers who develop ...hepatitis C have local
governments scrambling to identify how to pay for what
is expected to be a multibillion-dollar liability over
the next 30 years.
Click here |
July 20 Hepatitis C a
Greater Threat to
Healthcare Workers Than HIV ATLANTA (Reuters Health)
- The risk that healthcare workers will become infected
with hepatitis C virus (HCV) following an accidental
needlestick is 20 to 40 times greater than their
risk of HIV infection, according to data presented here
at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious
Disease.
Click here |
July 12,2005 Doctor
sanctioned for reusing syringes
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) The state Department of Health is
sanctioning a doctor it says reused syringes -- putting
patients at risk.... for injections of vitamin
B-12...sent advisories to 669
Click here |
06/13/2005 SANTA ROSA, CA --
(MARKET WIRE) -- Hepatitis C Infection Claims Against
Santa Rosa Doctor Gain Momentum With Filing of Second
Lawsuit Contaminated Equipment May Have Infected Five
Patients of Gordon Medical Associates With Hepatitis C
in January 2005
Click here |
|
June 10 2005, REDNOVA NEWS
Patient-to-Patient Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus-
vulnerable patients with cancer observing poor
infection-control techniques by a health care
professional attending their central venous catheters.
Click here |
June 7, 2005-Annals of
Internal Medicine | Volume 142 Issue 11 | Pages
898-902 An Outbreak of Hepatitis C Virus Infections
among Outpatients at a Hematology/Oncology Clinic
Of 613 clinic patients were probably contaminated when
syringes used to draw blood from venous catheters were
reused to withdraw saline solution.
Click here |
|
Baltimore,
MD, May. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said nearly 40
percent of surgeries may involve patients who have
...hepatitis, placing surgeons at risk of
contracting the diseases.
click
here |
May 04, 2005 Source:
Newswise Protecting healthcare workers from infection As
many as 87 percent of surgeons will receive an injury
that breaks the skin
click here
|
|
4/29/2005 Hepatitis C
scare halts use of surgical adhesive The Yomiuri
Shimbun One of the basic ingredients in
Takokonbu is fibrinogen, which is found in human
blood, and is culled from blood supplies in the
United States.
click here |
April 28, 2005 Philly.com by
ssnyder@phillynews.com.
An uproar ensues over
needle-stick- Parents notified children stuck by pin.
click here |
Apr 22, 2005 83 patients
alerted after Hepatitis C fear
Hastings Observer, UK - ...warned they may have
contracted Hepatitis C from a Hastings gynaecologist
between 1983 and 2001
click here
|
Apr 20 2005
2,000 women patients in hepatitis test warning By
Deborah James Daily Post Staff ...cases going back 23
years, .... underwent invasive surgery like
hysterectomy operations in two Liverpool hospitals
click here |
|
Apr 09, 2005
Hepatitis warnings go out to patients By Sarah
Arnquist FAIRFIELD - Kaiser Permanente mailed letters to
400 female patients from its Vacaville and Vallejo
facilities, suggesting they get tested for hepatitis
after finding sterilization problems with medical
instruments dating back four years.
click here |
April 9, 2004 The
Japan Times: Dialysis-linked
hepatitis C spread alarming- About 2.2 percent of
patients who underwent dialysis in 2001 were infected
with the hepatitis C ... study ... conducted at dialysis
facilities nationwide. ...52,000 people receiving
dialysis ... tested negative for hepatitis C.. end of
2000, roughly 1,100 positive 2001. ... survey
suggests several thousand are infected each year with
hepatitis C at facilities.
Click here |
|
Incidence of acute HCV, USA
click here |
4/7/05 El Paso Times- Months
after first contacting 250 people who could have
been infected with hepatitis C during surgery at
Beaumont Army Medical Center last year, physicians
now
want to test an additional 912 patients.
click here |
|
April 7-NEW ORLEANS,
/PRNewswire/ -- Survey of AORN Congress Attendees
Reveals Double Gloving Occurs 42 Percent as Much as It
Should,-Although they are "very concerned" about the
need to double glove as a means of protection against
potential exposure to blood and body fluids during
surgery,
operating room nurses...report.. they only double glove
42 percent as much as they think they should.
click here |
The prevalence of hepatitis
C virus infection in Texas: implications for
future health care-KANTHI YALAMANCHILI, MD, SHERIF
SAADEH, MD, RITA LEPE, MD, AND GARY L. DAVIS, MD....
number of cases appears to have surpassed previous
projections utilizing this and similar models
click
here |
|
A study in New York City has
found a higher than expected prevalence of hepatitis
C infection among non-injecting drug users The
findings, published in the May 1 issue of Substance Use
& Misuse, may indicate that use of needles and syringes
is not the only drug-related risk factor for HCV.
click here |
Barriers to hepatitis c
transmission within breathing systems: Efficacy of a
pleated hydrophobic filter Centre for Applied
Microbiology and Research A large pore electret
filter did not provide a barrier to the passage of
HCV....... essential .... humidified breathing
circuit,.. be evaluated in a ... to prove their
efficacy.
click here
|
|
Brief Communication:
Sewer Workers: Occupational Risk for Hepatitis C —
Report of Two Cases and Review of Literature- SEWAGE
WORKERS are at high risk of exposure to both infectious
and toxic agents
click here |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
The findings of a long-term study of injection drug
users... These results "underscore the importance" of
nucleic acid screening of blood...an "alarming"
34 percent became infected despite risk reduction
counseling
click here |
|
April 1, 2005 Colonoscopy
Patients Put at Infection Risk By Katrina Woznicki ,
MedPage Today Staff Writer Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus,
MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine. MONROEVILLE, Pa....tracking
down some 200 people The patients involved
got colonoscopies
click here |
Maryland
probe fails to discover source of
hepatitis C infections After a
five-month probe, Maryland health
officials still do not know how a vial
of testing solution became contaminated
with hepatitis C virus and infected
16 people
click here |
|
March 31,
2005 Monroeville hospital urges 200
colonoscopy patients to get checked ..
..underwent colon examinations that they
may be at risk for infection because the
colonoscopes ..not .. adequately
cleaned.
click here |
March 31, 2005 Forbes
Issues Warning on Faulty Disinfection Nearly 70
patients have contacted the hospital so far
click here
|
|
NY Prison
health care is killing inmates By
MARY BETH PFEIFFER An estimated
10,000 inmates suffer from Hepatitis C;
another 6,000 are infected with HIV.
Complaints about substandard care are
legion.
click here |
Mar 24 2005
French Woman May Have Had
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in 1971- "like finding
a case of autopsied AIDS back in the 1700s."
click here |
|
March
11, 2005 Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus Among Persons
Undergoing Blood Glucose Monitoring in Long-Term--Care
Facilities The findings underscore the need for
education, training, adherence to standard precautions |
03/04/05 William
Beaumont Army Medical Center- Update on
hepatitis C investigation The Centers for
Disease
Control and Prevention in confirmed that all patients
were infected from the same source. All
patients with
the virus are receiving medical care, and our
investigation continues into the source.
|
|
3/16/05 When Does
Mother-to-Child Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus Occur?
31%
were positive in the first 3 days of life.... “These
results suggest that at least one third and up to a half
of infected children acquired infection in utero.
click here |
03/17/2005 The Ugly Truth
Behind Beautiful Nails -- Doctor's Advice for
Healthy Feet BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- The
risks are severe and even include the blood-borne viral
diseases hepatitis B and C.
clcik here |
|
February 24,
2005 Patients told of HIV infection fears
AMSTERDAM — .... informed patients who underwent
endoscopic examinations recently that faulty
equipment .... asked 57 patients to come in for
testing
click here |
Jan
31, 2005 Local hospital snafus hint at a larger problem
By A.C. Thompson Late last year health care giant Kaiser
Permanente was forced to reveal an embarrassing and
potentially lethal situation that had developed at its
Redwood City hospital. The hospital was
apparently using dirty endoscopes |
|
1/26/04 Division of Gastroenterology, Children's
Hospital Boston, MA.Children
with Hepatitis C An estimated 240,000 children in the
United States have antibody to hepatitis C virus (HCV)
and 68,000 to 100,000 are chronically infected with HCV.
Click here |
|
|
Barriers to
hepatitis c transmission within breathing systems:
Efficacy of a pleated hydrophobic filter G. LLOYD
.....breathing circuits contaminated with body fluids
may provide a route of nosocomial patient-to-patient
transmission of the hepatitis C virus.. A large pore
electret filter did not provide a barrier to the
passage of HCV.
click here |
January 14, 2005
Professor warns that pilgrimage is health risk
MUSLIMS taking part in the pilgrimage to Mecca face
serious health risks, a city doctor warned today."....He
said that pilgrims also need to be aware of the risks of
blood-borne infections such as HIV and hepatitis
B and C, especially as one of the rites of Hajj is for
men to have their head shaved.
Link |
January 8, 2005 Hepatitis
C seen as health threat on Long Island BY DELTHIA
RICKS STAFF WRITER
Link
The growing prevalence of hepatitis C on Long Island
could pose a greater threat than the emergence of HIV
two decades ago, a health expert said Friday. |
4 Jan 2005 The
Baltimore Sun, Maryland: hepatitis C fatality in
Baltimore shrouded in mystery-As thousands of other
patients do every year, a patient walked into a Glen
Burnie cardiology clinic....traced the patient's
infection to a single vial of technetium-99m, a
radioactive isotope injected into the bloodstream during
stress tests and other routine diagnostic procedures.
click here |
|
12/11/04
Hospital seeks patients
exposed to hepatitis C
By The Associated Press (12/11/04 - EL PASO, TX) -
With eight cases of hepatitis C confirmed, officials
at Beaumont Army Medical Center are looking for
60 others who had
surgery |
12/04/2003 12:00 AM Jury sides with hepatitis C
victim By Guillermo San Antonio Express-News
Contreras Jury finds negligent for infecting Deborah
Anderson, who received a series of permanent coloring
touch-ups to her lips at the studio, mostly in 1999. |
|
2004 No Evidence of
Sexual Transmission of Hepatitis C among Monogamous
Couples: Results of a 10-Year Prospective Study
The risk of sexual transmission of hepatitis C virus
(HCV) infection was evaluated among 895 monogamous
heterosexual partners of HCV chronically infected
individuals in a long-term prospective study, which
provided a follow-up period of 8,060 person-years. |
Gloveless Healthcare Worker Gives
Hepatitis C to 5 Patients
Phlebotomy Today -Claiming that gloves diminished
the sense of touch he needed for his work, an
anesthesiology technician has been found to have
infected five hospital patients with the deadly
hepatitis C virus. |
|
2004
Dialysis-linked hepatitis C spread alarming
About 2.2 percent of
patients who underwent dialysis in 2001 were infected
with the hepatitis C virus |
Fri Dec 10,
Md. Hepatitis C May Be
From Medical Tests
By KASEY JONES, Associated Press Writer
BALTIMORE - A company that makes substances
used in some common medical tests has
suspended operations |
12/8/2004
FDA
PRODUCT RECALL
Red Blood Cells. Recall # B-0189-5. 1636571,
1636572, 1636575.
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
Department of the Army,
Madigan Army Medical Center , Tacoma , WA , by facsimile
dated November 17, 2002 . Firm initiated recall is
complete.
REASON Red Cells,
incorrectly tested for HIV/HCV by NAT, were
distributed.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
24 units.
DISTRIBUTION WA.Read
more: False results with NAT |
FDA
PRODUCT RECALL
Red Blood Cells. Recall #
B-0188-5.
CODE Units 1636581, 1636583, 1636573, 1636585, 1636587,
and 1636557.RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER Department of
the Army, Madigan Army Medical Center , Tacoma , WA , by
facsimile dated November 17, 2002 . Firm initiated
recall is complete. REASON Red Cells, incorrectly tested
for HIV/HCV by NAT, were distributed.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE 6 units.
DISTRIBUTION WA
Read more: False results with NAT |
|
October 1, 2004
Fremont
hepatitis suits will go to trial
in
Omaha
BY ANGIE BRUNKOW WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
"Nebraska health officials
have linked 99
cases of hepatitis C |
|
|
September 24, 2004-Hospital:
Patients May Have Been Infected By Equipment
New tests show a
number of patients tested positive for
hepatitis C |
September 11, 2004- The Oregonian-Hermiston woman
sues hospital, Red Cross Saturday, …claiming she
contracted hepatitis C after receiving a blood
transfusion during an operation in July 2002. |
|
Sept 2004
CA- Medical Clinic Notifies Patients of Possible
Hepatitis Exposure During Exams…An equipment
malfunction at Kaiser Permanente of Redwood City, CA
may have exposed 2,116 patents to Hepatitis C, a
disease which attacks the liver. From Oct 30, 2003 to
May 3, 2004, equipment used in gastro-intestinal exams
was not properly sterilized |
September 13 2004
Hepatitis B Vaccine May Be Linked to MS By Salynn
Boyles WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario,
MD on Monday, |
|
July 17, 2004
Hepatitis C Outbreak Adds a New Woe to Drug Centers
By ALAN FEUER Published: … diagnosed in
114 of Palladia Starhill's 400 patients. |
7-27-4 Report
Says 195,000 Deaths Due To Hospital Error WASHINGTON
(Reuters) -- As many as 195,000 people a year could be
dying in U.S. hospitals because of easily prevented
errors, a company said on Tuesday in an estimate that
doubles previous figures. Lakewood, Colorado-based
HealthGrades Inc. said its data covers all 50 states
and is more up-to-date than a 1999 study from the
Institute of Medicine that said
98,000 people a year die from medical errors. |
|
7/2004
The Patient Protection
Office, for Madrid Community,
has opened an investigation in order to
determine how 7 cancer patients
contracted hepatitis C virus |
|
June 27, 2004 The New York
Times As Doctors Write Prescriptions, Drug
Companies Write Checks By GARDINER HARRIS
...recently reported that Schering Plough is under
federal and state investigation for payments made to
providers to encourage them to treat patients with
Hepatitis C.
Those checks and others, some of them said to be
for six-figure sums, are under investigation by federal
prosecutors in Boston...included paying doctors large
sums to prescribe its drug for hepatitis C and to take
part in company-sponsored clinical trials
click here
|
Know the Myths about Hepatitis C
Dr. Ken Eden I would like to give another
perspective on Hepatitis C, its treatment, the need for
"informed consent" in discussing treatment options with
patients, and why the makers of Hepatitis C drugs
have discouraged such discussion. |
|
August 2004
Digestive Liver Diseases 36(8): 547-50.
Laboratory of Epidemiology, Reported risk
factors are useless in detecting HCV-positive subjects
in the general population. Conclusions Reported risk
factors are useless in detecting hepatitis C
virus-positive subjects in the general population |
|
2004 Hepatitis
C Virus Infection in United States Correctional
Institutions-
Frederick L. Altice, MD and R. Douglas Bruce*, MD *Yale
University School of Medicine Epidemiology of HCV in
Correctional Settings….30% of
all released prisoners having HCV infection, |
Aug. 28, 2004 Last cases against Palo Alto lab worker
dismissed Associated Press PALO ALTO, Calif. - Two
people who believe they were infected with HIV
and hepatitis C by a lab worker who reused needles,
plan to appeal …discovered she was HIV-positive after
Elaine Giorgi drew her blood in 1997 and 1999.. |
|
08/04/04 Natural History
of Chronic Hepatitis C in Patients on Hemodialysis
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is very common
among end-stage kidney disease patients on
hemodialysis, but its natural history is not known.
|
2037 Virus Alert: a
chairside system for evaluation of the risk of HCV
infection G. GAMBARINI, Italy
Objective: Cross-infection in dentistry is a serious
concern, because of the risk of contamination of
materials, instruments and dental units. |
|
June 30, 2004
Federal
Judge Dismisses Civil Case Against Maryland General
Hospital Promises
To Comply With Industry Standards
|
June 27, 2004
MANHASSET'S NORTH SHORE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Unclean record
of disinfecting BY
DAWN MACKEEN STAFF WRITER When North Shore University
Hospital admitted earlier ……. compromised 177
patients' health |
|
June 16, 2004
N.Y.
Patients May Have Been Exposed to HCV
The Associated Press |
2004 COURTHOUSE - A former Montgomery County
sheriff's deputy was diagnosed with Hepatitis C 18
months ago while still on the job. And, he is convinced
he contracted on the job. |
|
June 2004
Sunnybrook faces $220M lawsuit
KAREN PALMER PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTER
revealed that more than 800 men were potentially
exposed to blood-borne diseases during routine
screening tests |
June 2004
Eighth
hospital discloses instruments not disinfected
251 York Central outpatients affected Ear, nose
and throat clinic involved GABE GONDA STAFF REPORTER |
|
Parents' Blood May Not Be as Safe as Other Donors
Mon May 6,10:24 AM ET BALTIMORE (Reuters
Health) - Surprisingly, blood donated by parents... The
researchers found that 9 of every 100 parents--or about
8%--had given
blood that was unsafe to transfuse into their children.
"That's quite high," Wong said.
1853.1 |
May 20, 2004 Screening for infectious diseases
now required The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - People who donate sperm, eggs and other
commonly transplanted tissues will have to be screened
for infectious diseases like blood donors are, under
long-awaited federal rules announced Thursday |
|
April 4 2003- Tattooing a Major Route
of Hepatitis C Infection, UT Southwestern Researcher
Finds Source: UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS -, - Getting a
tattoo could be a key infection route for hepatitis C, |
Apr 2, 2004 5- Freeze-Drying Can't Remove Virus from
Tissue Transplants By Karla Gale NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - Freeze-drying does not inactivate viruses
from bone and connective tissue, according to
investigators at Michigan State University in East
Lansing, suggesting that this technique does not
improve the safety of tissue used for transplants. |
|
OCCUPATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF HIV AND
HEPATITIS C VIRUS AFTER A PUNCH.
Awareness of the risk of occupational transmission…
this is the first proven case of ….HCV ….that occurred
as the result of a blow with the fist. |
April 2, 2004
S.F.'s homeless with HIV
plagued by hepatitis C virus -- few treated
Carl T. Hall, Chronicle
Science Writer - UCSF and San Francisco General
Hospital, is among the first to
document how widespread hepatitis C infections have
become |
March 20, 2004 HIV test glitch could affect
thousands
BALTIMORE,
Maryland (AP) -- Thousands of patients could have
received questionable HIV test results
"Every single test that came off that machine should be
in question, from its first day in use,"--
click here
|
H.R.73.IH
the
Comprehensive Hepatitis C Health Care Act was introduced
on January 7, 2003
Sec. 1720F. Hepatitis C testing and treatment ...
(A) each veteran who served in the
active military, naval, or air service during the
Vietnam era or
who is considered to be `at risk,' |
|
2004 Hygiene risk for dental patients
Andrew Denholm political correspondent
dental …. risk of infection from blood diseases
such as HIV and hepatitis because of poor standards of
hygiene….calling for urgent action to improve basic
sterilization techniques. |
December 13, 2003 Drug
Companies Fund Patient Advocacy Groups Sydney
Morning Herald, December 13, 2003 " "Pharmaceutical
companies are pouring millions of dollars into patient
advocacy groups ....used a public relations firm to
set up an expert medical board to persuade people they
needed hepatitis A and B vaccinations. The company
was not interested in raising awareness about hepatitis
C because it did not sell a vaccine for the disease. |
|
11/22/2003
FedEx worker decries handling of bloody box
By Todd C. Frankel Post-Dispatch The body parts were en
route from Donor Referral
Services in Las Vegas |
8/2003
Associated Press
Lab glitch produces false
blood test results FARGO -
A laboratory glitch was to blame for blood test results
that falsely indicated about 40 area donors were
infected with HIV or hepatitis C, United Blood Services
officials say.
click here
Read more: False results with NAT
|
|
2003 RCMP Blood Task
Force lays Criminal Charges… criminal negligence
causing bodily harm… The Armour Pharmaceutical ….
Delaware Corporation, .. with three counts of criminal
negligence causing bodily harm and one count of common
nuisance by endangering the public under the
Criminal Code of Canada, as well as one count of failure
to notify under the Food and Drugs Act Regulations. |
11/21/2003
Immigration And Disease: It's
Enough To Make You Sick
By Robert Klein Engler
2,200 illegal aliens daily 5 percent in TB cases
in the state between 2000 and 2001, and 57 percent of
the increase occurred in northern Virginia itself..
Tuberculosis, five years ago, was almost nonexistent in
the USA. |
Oct. 13, 2003
Risk of HCV-Infected Allografts "Serious Public
Health Threat" Peggy Peck (San Diego) — Limitations
in donor screening combined with outmoded donor tissue
sterilization procedures suggest that about 300
hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected musculoskeletal tissue
specimens are distributed by U.S. tissue procurement
centers each year. |
September 26, 2003 Transmission of Hepatitis B and C
Viruses in Outpatient Settings- New York, Oklahoma,
and Nebraska, 2000 - 2002 MMWR (Mortality & Morbidity
Weekly) CDC, September 26, 2003 /
52(38);901-906--investigation of each outbreak suggested
that unsafe injection practices, primarily reuse of
syringes and needles or
contamination of multiple-dose medication vials, led
to patient-to-patient transmission. |
|
9/2003 Mount
Pleasant by Stacey Range Randy
Vallad didn't know what prison doctors did. At
least not until he accidentally saw one line at the
bottom of a sheet in his prison medical records:
"Hepatitis C - Positive." turns out the 43-year-old from
Mount Pleasant had tested positive not once but four
times between September 1998 and June 2001 while
imprisoned for running from police. ….convinced she
contracted the virus from Vallad during his parole.
|
September 12, 2003
PRODUCT Source
Plasma. Recall # B-0264-5.
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
Aventis Bio-Services, Inc., Davenport
, IA , by letter dated September 12, 2003 . Firm
initiated recall is complete.
REASON
Source Plasma, collected
from a donor who had a tattoo applied within 12 months
of donation, was distributed. |
July/August 2003,ADULT INFECTIOUS DISEASE NOTES
Volume 14, Number 4: 192 Nosocomial transmission of
bloodborne viruses from infected health care workers to
patients- B Lynn Johnston MD1, John M Conly MD2- The
risks to health care workers (HCWs) of
occupationally-acquired infection .... Evidence
..suggests that the risk of infection is increased
where the level of viremia is high,
Click here
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06/20/03
Rep. Jackson Lee Praised for Seeking GAO Probe of
Hepatitis C |
Ann Ig. 2003 Sep-Oct;15(5):685-91 An
outbreak of hepatitis C virus in a haemodialysis unit:
molecular evidence of patient-to-patient transmission |
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2003 Kaiser patients at risk for hepatitis
They're advised to have a precautionary' test By Nicole
Neroulias, STAFF WRITER REDWOOD CITY -- A faulty
disinfection process might have exposed more than
2,100 Kaiser Permanente Medical Center patients
to hepatitis |
June 2, 2003--Lieff
Cabraser Announces Filing of Claims In U.S. District
Court On Behalf Of Hemophiliacs Abroad Infected With
HIV And/Or HCV Due To Virus Contaminated Blood Products
complaint alleges that these companies intentionally
sold blood factor that they knew or should have
known to be infected with the agents that cause AIDS and
HCV. "This is a worldwide
tragedy," |
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2003
TRANSMISSION OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS FROM A PATIENT TO AN
ANESTHESIOLOGY ASSISTANT TO FIVE PATIENTS
Breaches of infection control
are therefore associated with a high risk of the
transmission of blood-borne pathogens.
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June 25, 2002
Ford Hospital warns patients about hepatitis
Testing instruments possibly
contaminated BY PATRICIA ANSTETT AND HUYI JIN
ELIZABETH KIMFREE PRESS MEDICAL WRITERSHenry Ford
Hospital in Detroit is warning 268 patients who
underwent a common sinus, nose and throat test to be
evaluated for hepatitis B and C infections
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April 11, 2003
Red Cross Agrees to
Fines for Safety Violations By Todd Zwillich
WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - The American Red Cross
could face substantial fines for future
lapses in blood safety practices |
2003
100 women at risk after GP blunder
by Camillo Fracassini and Sue
Leonard
UP TO 100 women have been put at risk of contracting
HIV and hepatitis after they were given
cervical smear tests using unsterilised equipment. |
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February 25, 2003
“I don’t feel the training I received was
insufficient, closed
last week after an internal audit. SUSAN
TOM Statesman Journal
Documents
show …
failing to take
adequate steps to prevent contamination of the blood …
during collection;
failing
to ensure … donor is .. failure to maintain … records;
and failure …. freezer’s temperature recorder against a
thermometer. |
2003
Patients were exposed to a potentially life-threatening
disease after being injected with a used needle.
A former nurse anesthetist at Norman Regional
hospital is to blame. In all,
80 patients were infected with Hepatitis
"C" |
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2003
Wicomico investigate backboard sanitation allegations
against PRMC By Deborah Gates Daily Times Staff
Writer SALISBURY -- Maryland …returning unsanitized
ambulance equipment to crews that transport patients
to the hospital. |
2003 Gaps HCV Testing & Care in VA System "Testing,
Referral, and Treatment Patterns for Hepatitis C Virus
Coinfection in a Cohort of Veterans with Human
Immunodeficiency Virus Infection" Excerpts from:
Clinical Infectious Diseases;36:1039-1046 "In the
VA system HIV care providers are not
testing all their patients for HCV….. |
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Biomedical waste handler jailed
By
BILL TORPY The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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March 28, 2002 Doctor
Called Likely Source of Hepatitis in Patients-By
BRUCE LAMBERT State health officials said
yesterday that they planned to track down and urge
testing of up to 3,000 patients who may have been
exposed to potentially fatal hepatitis while
undergoing operations by an infected cardiac surgeon on
Long Island.
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FYI-A federal inspection of a Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals plant NEWARK, N.J.(AP) A federal
inspection of a Wyeth Pharmaceuticals … numerous
quality-control ..The Star-Ledger of Newark reported
Sunday. The Food and Drug Administration report
detailed sloppy operating
procedures, dirty work areas and instances of
contamination at a New York plant. |
Recommendations for Preventing Transmission of Human
Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis B Virus to Patients
During Exposure-Prone Invasive Procedures
Exposure-Prone Procedures …Despite adherence to the
principles of universal precautions, certain
invasive surgical and dental procedures have been
implicated in the transmission four hospitals, one
or more percutaneous injuries occurred among surgical
personnel during 96 (6.9%) of 1,382 operative
procedures |
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December 30 2002 Risky blood collection
allegations
By Gerard Ryle A
Federal Government inquiry.. told that its
own Health Department may have allowed blood plasma
to be collected from drug addicts, prostitutes and
criminals. The Red Cross and the Health
Department ..... followed the lead of the
United States' Food and Drug Administration in
allowing hepatitis C-infected plasma to be collected |
December 30, 2002 Gov't:
Red Cross Did Not Probe WASHINGTON - The American Red
Cross received reports that 134 people, including one
who died, got hepatitis B after blood transfusions,
….latest in a series of revelations about safety
violations that have plagued the Red Cross for more than
10 years.....And some Red Cross employees were told
to skip safety steps or falsify records to allow
infected blood to be released. Despite years of
violations, the Red Cross has insisted things can't be
that bad because not many people are getting sick from
transfusions. |
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September 2002, HCV Transmission in a
Hematology/Oncology Clinic - Nebraska In a
gastroenterologist reported .. All of these patients had
received chemotherapy at the same .. clinic. ..all were
genotype 3a,
Click here |
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December 27, 2002 Surgeon told hospital he had
hepatitis C in 1995
By Roni Rabin STAFF WRITER Ever since reports revealed
that a prominent Manhasset heart surgeon had
inadvertently transmitted hepatitis C to several
patients over the past 10 years, |
2002;34(8):580-2. Nosocomial transmission
of HCV in a cardiology ward during the window
phase of infection: an epidemiological and molecular
investigation. |
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November 20, 2002
Reviving an old technology for large-scale vaccination
Tuesday By Christopher Snowbeck, Post-Gazette Staff
Writer
possible
for blood to be drawn back into the nozzle," said Linda
D'Antonio (Note: jetguns) |
9/18/02 NEW YORK
(Reuters Health) One in ten veterans in New York City
area infected with HCV NEW YORK (Reuters Health,
9/18/02) - The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV)
infection among military veterans in the New York City
metropolitan area is 10.6%, |
Sept 2002, a
gastroenterologist reported four patients with
recently diagnosed HCV infection medication
infusions routinely used the same syringe to draw
blood from patients' central venous catheters and to
draw catheter-flushing solution from 500-cc saline
bags that were used for multiple patients....486
(79%) underwent HCV testing; 99 patients with
clinic-acquired HCV infection.......Click
Here
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August 2002, the Oklahoma
State Department of Health (OSDH) six patients
with suspected acute HCV infection who had received
treatment from the same pain remediation clinic....through
heparin locks...connected directly to intravenous
cannulas $99,000 fine After June 2002,
no evidence
of HBV or HCV transmission associated with
receiving treatment at the clinic was found.
click here |
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July 20 Hepatitis C a
Greater Threat to Healthcare Workers Than HIV
ATLANTA (Reuters Health) - The risk that healthcare
workers will become infected with hepatitis C virus
(HCV) following an accidental needlestick is 20 to 40
times greater than their risk of HIV infection
Click here |
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05/02 HEPATITIS C -
TRANSMISSION BY TOOTHBRUSHES: A MYTH OR A REAL
POSSIBILITY? ...contamination with HCV-RNA can be
detected at a large portion of toothbrushes used by hep.
C patients. |
In 2002,
Ford
Hospital warned patients about hepatitis Testing
instruments possibly contaminated The case carrying
the sterilized ear, nose and Throat scope,
transmitted the virus. |
HMA's
Pamphlet