Exeter Hospital Hepatitis C Count Grows to 21
NH state health officials have announced that another person has tested positive for hepatitis C. This brings to 21 people who’ve contracted the virus through their contact at the cardiac catheterization lab at Exeter Hospital.
According to officials, over 1,000 people have been tested for hepatitis C. State Public Health Director estimated that there are still approximately 145 people who remain untested. All those targeted for a hepatitis C blood test would have visited the cardiac catheterization lab between October 1, 2010 and May 25, 2012.
According to www.seacoastonline.com, “Of those who have tested positive for the disease in the outbreak, the earliest date of infection was determined to be approximately June 2011 and the latest was March 2012, Montero said. In addition to the 21 people who have tested positive for the strain connected to the outbreak in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab, 10 others have tested positive for another strain of the disease that doesn’t appear to be related to the hospital.
“Our working hypothesis is that it’s not related to the hospital and we have no particular reason to believe that it is, but we haven’t fully closed the door on that possibility,” Montero said of those 10 cases.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting additional testing on those samples.”
1-800-662-6230 or abramson@arbd.com
