- Hello Jeff -- There are statements in this article that
really cause me concern. First of all, the health department would have
us believe that HCV cannot speard by casual contact. I am sure that they
also did not mention the risk of dental procedures.
-
- The article does not elaborate on whether the doctor
infected the patients deliberately or if he did not employ sanitary measures
and proper sterilization protocols.
-
- The article also claims that "Transmission of hepatitis
in a medical setting is rare," which is also not true. There have
been many documented cases of HCV transmission via health care setting
which includes blood and blood products as well as dental procedures. Just
imagine how many cases of transmission of HCV took place via health care
settings but have not been documented.
-
- There are many patients with HCV who have absolutely
NO RISK FACTORS for HCV and one must consider that they might have become
infected via health and dental care.
-
- I also believe that the doctor should be named so that
anyone who has undergone a procedure with this doctor can go and get tested.
He has been practicing since 1977 and therefore, there may be many people
who now carry the silent killer. The New York City health department would
have us believe that only 3 people are infected via this doctor however,
we do not know if there are other cases in patients who underwent procedures
since 1977.
-
- Patty
-
- NEW YORK (AP) -- Authorities
urged 4,500 people who were treated by an anesthesiologist to get tested
for hepatitis C, saying three patients may have been infected as the doctor
gave them anesthesia.
-
- The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said
Thursday it was mailing letters to everyone at risk and noted that the
liver-damaging disease cannot be spread by casual contact.
-
- Three people treated by the doctor in August were diagnosed
with hepatitis C in recent months, the health department said. Laboratory
tests suggest they were infected while getting intravenous anesthesia drugs
during outpatient procedures, according to the agency.
-
- Authorities have not identified the anesthesiologist.
A state Health Department spokeswoman, Claudia Hutton, said the agency
had not established "that the doctor is guilty of doing anything wrong."
-
- The doctor has had a medical license since 1977 and "does
not have a history of spreading infection," Hutton said.
-
- City authorities said they were contacting everyone treated
by the anesthesiologist while he or she practiced at 10 different medical
offices in New York City, from Dec. 1, 2003, to May 1, 2007. The doctor
has stopped practicing during the investigation, the city health department
said.
-
- "Transmission of hepatitis in a medical setting
is rare, but as a precaution we are reaching out to anyone who could have
potentially been exposed," Dr. Marci Layton, the agency's assistant
commissioner for communicable disease, said in a statement.
-
- She stressed that intravenous medications are "very
safe when standard infection-control procedures are followed," and
that patients should not avoid important procedures because of worries
about infections.
-
- Hepatitis C is a chronic, blood-borne virus that that
can cause scarring or other damage to the liver. It often does not cause
noticeable symptoms, although some people experience flu-like symptoms,
a yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes, dark urine and pale
feces. It is treatable, but many people who have the disease do not even
know they are infected.
-
-
- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070615/ap_on_he_me/hepatitis_
- investigation;_ylt=AlD64pY0uyMWFuhkQ0tOmfKs0NUE
-
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
-
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