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Failed Infection Control Ups Risk for Hepatitis

Posted on: Friday, 9 January 2009, 08:30 CST

Most people don’t go to the doctor expecting to come away with a potentially deadly infection. But that’s what’s happening too often to people whose health care professionals don’t follow standard guidelines for infection control.

According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 33 outbreaks of hepatitis B and C affecting 450 people have been noted in outpatient clinics, hemodialysis centers and long-term care facilities in 15 states over the past decade. The report blames the outbreaks on the failure of health care personnel to follow basic rules for infection control . Common factors in these incidents included reusing syringes and blood contamination of medications, equipment and devices.

“This report is a wake-up call,” Dr. John Ward, director of the CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis, was quoted as saying. “Thousands of patients are needlessly exposed to viral hepatitis and other preventable diseases in the very places where they should feel protected.  No patient should go to their doctor for health care only to leave with a life-threatening disease.”

Combating the problem will require ongoing education of health professionals about proper infection control techniques, along with greater oversight by the states aimed at detecting and preventing the transmission of infections in health care settings, notes the government agency. The CDC launched a number of initiatives to address the problem, including improving viral hepatitis surveillance and investigation, strengthening state and local prevention programs, and improving education and promoting safe care practices in all of the settings concerned.

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