Endoscope didn't cause hepatitis C outbreak at Kitchener clinic
CBC News | Posted: February 4, 2015 12:54 PM | Last Updated: February 4, 2015
Investigators from Region of Waterloo Public Health are still trying to figure out why five patients who had colonoscopies at a Kitchener clinic on Christmas Eve in 2013 were infected with hepatitis C.
"We know that the endoscope that was used that day was not the cause. All of the clients had different endoscopes. So that wasn't what links those five patients together," said Dr. Liana Nolan, the medical officer of health for Waterloo Region, in a interview with Colin Butler on The Morning Edition Wednesday.
The five patients who were treated at the Tri-City Colonoscopy Clinic in Kitchener in 2013 were infected with hepatitis C, and were among 13 patients who received treatment at the clinic that day, according to a report published Tuesday by the public health department.
"So what we've done is a review of the medical literature and we have found cases of hepatitis C outbreaks in colonoscopy clinics elsewhere, mostly in the United States, and in those cases they've found single-day lapses. It probably is related to one mistake that basically resulted in the ability to have blood from one patient pass to five people in one day," said Nolan.
Waterloo Region Public Health first started investigating in November 2014 while conducting a routine follow-up with a patient recently diagnosed with hepatitis C. The patient's medical records didn't show any risk factors, other than the fact they had been treated at the colonoscopy clinic on Sportsworld Crossing Road.
Public health then launched an official investigation, and discovered a second case of the virus found in another patient treated at the same clinic on the same day.
"This is strong evidence of patient to patient transmission of hepatitis C due to a lapse in infection prevention and control practices at the clinic," the report said.