Staff error caused hepatitis outbreak
TAMPA - The area's first known group outbreak of hepatitis C was
isolated to mistakes made by an employee at a Brandon holistic medical
clinic, public
health officials say.
Up to eight patients at Wellness Works, 1209 Lakeside Drive, have
tested positive for the blood-borne illness, which is most often
transmitted by the improper sharing of needles or intravenous medical
equipment. Since the Hillsborough County
Health Department launched an investigation in July, nearly 130
patients have been tested.
No more patients tested positive since The Tampa Tribune first
reported the outbreak in February.
Epidemiologist David Atrubin said patients were infected during one
week in mid-April, the result of an employee failing to follow standard
procedures when "preparing and administering intravenous therapy." The
treatments resumed after repeated inspections of equipment and operating
procedures, Atrubin said.
"We don't have any reason to believe there was any transmission after
that point in mid-April," he said. The case remains under
investigation.
Clinic responds to outbreak
Wellness Works
specializes in holistic medicine, including the administration of
vitamin and toxin
removal therapies through intravenous solutions. The clinic made
staffing changes as a result of the investigation, including the
addition of employees to oversee intravenous treatments called
chelation. The clinic's director could not be reached for comment.
The outbreak is the first known case of hepatitis C
infection through a Tampa Bay area
medical clinic, Atrubin said. Most often, hepatitis C is not
contracted in clusters and instead involves one individual infecting
another.
However, the Brandon case joins a growing number of high-profile
cases across the country in which medical mistakes
infected patients with the incurable liver disease that
often lies dormant for months or years. The national Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention says up to 80 percent of the 3.2
million people in the United States with chronic hepatitis C do not
know they are sick.
Errors lead to exposure
In 2009, up to 10,000 Veterans Administration patients in Miami,
Murfreesburo, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga., were exposed to HIV, hepatitis C and
hepatitis B infection. Improper operation and sterilization of equipment
for common endoscopic and minimally invasive procedures is suspected in
the infection of more than 50 veterans, including 34 with hepatitis C.
The mistakes led to Congressional hearings this past summer, which
highlighted lax procedures at some of the 153 VA medical centers. There
it was revealed that surprise inspections at 42 VA sites found 57
percent of the centers had inadequate operating procedures and
improperly trained staff. The James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa
and the Bay Pines VA Medical Center in St. Petersburg were not part of
the inspections.
So far this year, 263 new cases of hepatitis C have
been diagnosed in Hillsborough County. Health department records show
nearly 1,400 new cases a year are diagnosed.
Long-term consequences
Though hepatitis C
shows few outward symptoms, its long-term consequences are severe. The
CDC reports that 60 to 70 of every 100 people with chronic hepatitis C will
have chronic liver disease, up to 20 will develop cirrhosis and up to
five will die from cirrhosis or liver cancer.
Hepatitis C is one
of three major hepatitis viruses. Hepatitis A is an acute virus, which
means it disappears over time. In 2002, three children at a Tampa
preschool were infected with hepatitis A, which is spread when a person
ingests fecal matter, even a microscopic amount.
Hepatitis B and C both start as an acute infection but can morph into
a chronic illness. Children with hepatitis B are more likely than
adults to develop a lifelong condition. With hepatitis C, 15 percent to
85 percent of all people infected will deal with chronic illness.
Reporter Mary Shedden can be reached at
(813) 259-7365.
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