January 2005

EL PASO, Tx - A Beaumont Army Hospital staff member contracts Hepatitis "c" and now several patients are also infected. Up to 5% of all the patients tested so far have tested positive for Hepatitis "c", it's a disease that can destroy the liver.

Just after 3 o'clock today the public received confirmation that a staff member at William Beaumont Army Medical Center had tested positive for Hepatitis "c". A hospital spokesperson said this person will no longer have contact with patients.

The hospital identified two cases of exposure to Hepatitis "c" two months ago, which prompted an extensive review of health records between July and October of this year. The investigation led to the testing of 155 surgical patients, 8 of which were found to be positive.

There are several ways to transmit Hepatitis "c": by sharing needles or other drug injection equipment, through unsterile tattooing or body piercing equipment, any blood-to-blood contact through a tooth brush, razor blade, or other hygenic tools

The disease is rarely transmitted through sexual contact, but is possible when infected blood is present. Hepatitis "c "can also be passed from mother to child during pregnancy or childbirth.

However, there are some misconceptions about the disease. It can not be transmitted by kissing, coughing, sneezing, or other social contact. The only way to check for Hepatitis "c" is with a blood test.

If you were a patient at William Beaumont anytime this year, from July to October and think you may have been infected call, officials as that you call 915-569-4444.

 

Hospital Seeks Patients Exposed to Hepatitis C
SourceURL:http://abclocal.go.com
Associated Press

(12/11/04 - EL PASO, TX) -- With eight cases of hepatitis C confirmed, officials at Beaumont Army Medical Center are looking for 60 others who had surgery there earlier this year and might have contracted the disease.

Since identifying two cases in early October, the hospital staff and about 150 people who had surgery there from July through October have been tested.

"The records review and subsequent testing of individuals ... was conducted to ensure the best possible care for those exposed and to assure patient and worker safety," Col. James Leech, Beaumont's commander, told the El Paso Times for its Saturday editions.

Beaumont officials are not sure how two patients originally diagnosed with hepatitis C became infected. How others contracted the virus is being investigated.

Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by a virus. It can be transmitted when blood or body fluids from an infected person enter the body of a person who is not infected. It causes between 8,000 deaths and 10,000 deaths in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If left untreated, hepatitis C can result in liver damage, which can lead to serious conditions such as liver cancer or cirrhosis.

Leech said that Beaumont officials immediately alerted the El Paso City-County Health and Environment District and that the CDC also sent personnel to study the situation.

Dr. William Bower of the CDC said Beaumont took the appropriate steps when it identified the virus in its patients.

"The work they did has placed the risk factor here at zero at this point," Bower said.

Bower and other U.S. Army medical officials are at Beaumont investigating the origin of the virus.

Leech said the eight people -- including one staff member who no longer has contact with patients -- are being treated.