Nearly 450 patients may have been infected with hepatitis and HIV over the past two years due to improper use of intravenous drugs, according to officials at a Massachusetts hospital.
Salem Hospital said in a statement Thursday that the possible exposure affected patients seeking endoscopy, a procedure in which doctors insert a tube-like instrument into the body for examination. The hospital did not provide further details on how the possible exposure occurred.
Salem Hospital has notified all patients who may have been exposed and is testing people for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, which is “standard testing for this type of potential exposure,” a hospital spokesperson said in an email told CNN in an email.
“To date, there is no evidence that this incident resulted in any infection,” the hospital said in a statement. “We have determined that this incident posed a minimal risk of infection to patients. … We sincerely offer our condolences to those who Those affected apologize.”
The hospital learned of the potential exposure earlier this year and offered free exams and set up a hotline staffed by clinicians to answer questions.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said in a statement to CNN that the department is aware of the potential risk of exposure and has concluded that the risk of possible infection is very low.
The hospital is working with the state public health department to “control the situation.”
“To date, ongoing investigations have found no evidence of infection as a result of these exposures,” the department said.
Hepatitis B and C are liver infections caused by viruses that can be spread by sharing needles, syringes and other injection equipment or through sexual contact.
In 2018, more than 3,000 patients at a surgery center in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, were at risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens, including hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. An investigation by the New Jersey Department of Health found that employees at HealthPlus Surgery Center did not follow sterilization procedures and medical instruments were not properly cleaned.
In 2008, an acute hepatitis C outbreak was linked to an endoscopy center in Las Vegas, according to a report from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. An investigation has found that unsafe injection practices put patients at risk of exposure.
CNN’s Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report.
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