Hepatitis C from dental equipment
TULSA,
Okla. — A Tulsa-area dentist whose practice was shut down because his equipment
was rusty and his employees reused needles was responsible for the nation’s
first transmission of hepatitis C between patients in a dental office,
Oklahoma health officials said Wednesday.
Hepatitis C
Citing
genetic testing performed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Oklahoma’s state epidemiologist said there was at least one instance in which
Dr. W. Scott Harrington’s practice spread the infections disease of hepatitis
C.
Hepatitis C
“This
is the first documented report of patient-to-patient transmission of hepatitis
C virus associated with a dental setting in the United States,” Dr. Kristy
Bradley said. It could have been the result of contaminated dental
instruments or cross-contamination from reused needles or syringes, among other
possibilities.
Hepatitis C
State
health inspectors shut down Harrington’s clinic March 28 after finding
unsanitary conditions. A 17-count complaint filed by the state called
Harrington a “menace to the public health.” The complaint said officials found
rusty instruments, potentially contaminated drug vials and improper use of a
machine designed to sterilize tools at Harrington’s two Tulsa-area offices.
Hepatitis C
Health
officials urged tests for 7,000 of Harrington’s patients to determine whether
they had contracted an infectious disease. Of 4,202 tested at state clinics, 89
tested positive for hepatitis C, five for hepatitis B and four for the
virus that causes AIDS. In only one instance was it proven that the virus was
contracted at a clinic, health officials said.
Hepatitis C
Harrington
had been a dentist for 36 years before voluntarily giving up his license March
20. He faces a January hearing before the state’s dental board. Earlier this
month, seven of Harrington’s patients filed a class-action lawsuit in Tulsa
naming the doctor, his corporation, his medical staff and several
pharmaceutical companies as defendants.
Hepatitis C
Five
of the seven plaintiffs said in the lawsuit they had been diagnosed with an
infectious disease due to the actions of Harrington and the others. The former
patients also said they are at risk of contracting blood-borne pathogens.
“Plaintiffs are informed and believe that they were exposed to contaminated
propofol vials and/or equipment not effectively sterilized by autoclave
components, at the dental clinics which resulted in plaintiffs contracting
infectious diseases,” the lawsuit stated.
Hepatitis C
The
public alert began after a patient of Harrington’s initially tested positive
for HIV in a screening at a third-party provider. Once infected with hepatitis
C, roughly eight in 10 people remain infected for life, according to the
CDC. But it can take many years for symptoms to develop from hepatitis C, and many of those
carrying the virus don’t know they’re infected.
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