Health officials have traced two patients linked with hepatitis C outbreak . These patients were treated at Vegas clinic at a Las Vegas endoscopy clinic in 2007. Hepatitis C is a deadly disease. This disease leads to the swelling of the liver. It can also cause stomach pain, fatigue and jaundice. It can slowly damage the liver without showing any symptoms. This disease is transmitted from one person to other.
Brian Labus, a senior Southern Nevada Health District epidemiologist said that the reuse of the syringes and vials by the clinic staff members has spread the blood-borne liver disease from patient to patient. The staff was aware that one patient suffered from hepatitis C. He added that individual patients' identities and information would not be revealed due to health privacy reasons. The officials added that the patients suffering from hepatitis C are not involved in its communication. This disease has spread due to the negligence of the hospital staff.
District officials have traced the connection of eighth case of hepatitis C to the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada. A ninth case in the outbreak has been traced to an affiliated clinic, the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center in Las Vegas.
Health district officials have found that 77 more people contracted hepatitis while being treated at the Endoscopy Center from March 2004 to last Jan.11. The officials added that it is not yet certain that all infected people got infection during treatment in hospital. According to data, 400 former patients of the center who were tested positive for hepatitis C could have contracted the virus through other means. The other factors responsible for spread of this deadly disease could be intravenous drug use, blood transfusions, organ transplants, kidney dialysis, receiving blood clotting agents before 1987, or sexual contact with a person with hepatitis C.
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