Tagged: hepatitis

Public health officials say six more Exeter Hospital patients have tested positive for Hepatitis C. That brings the total number of infections to 27.

Local, state and federal law enforcement are still investigating the cause of the outbreak. An Exeter Hospital employee is suspected of exposing patients to the liver-destroying virus by mishandling needles.

Hepatitis is a general term for inflammation of the liver which can be caused by bacterial or viral infections, toxins, drugs, or heavy alcohol use. Hepatitis also refers specifically to the viral infections that cause inflammation of the liver; hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. The most common hepatitis viruses are A, B, and C. Vaccines for hepatitis A and B have been part of routine childhood vaccinations since the mid 1990s.  

New Hampshire's Exeter Hospital has temporarily closed its cardiac catheterization lab after four patients contracted hepatitis C, and officials are asking 651 other people who've been treated at the lab since August to get tested for the liver-destroying virus.