Tagged: hepatitis c

After a lifetime of health challenges, the last thing Katrina wanted to hear was that she’d contracted Hepatitis C. 

“I was devastated,” says the 41-year old, whose last name is being withheld at her request.

She also suffers from diabetes and kidney failure, and believes she got Hep C about five years ago, possibly from sharing razors with a female roommate.

Because Hep C can live in the body for decades without producing symptoms, it’s sometimes called the silent killer.

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.  

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services says that drug diversion is the most likely cause of the hepatitis C outbreak at Exeter Hospital. Health officials also expect to discover more cases of the virus.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services continues to work with Exeter Hospital to determine the source and scope of the hepatitis C outbreak.

All 10 affected individuals—9 patients and 1 employee— have had a connection with the hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab. They have been diagnosed with the same strain of the virus.

Exeter Hospital has expanded testing to include patients associated with the lab between April 2011 and August 2011—that’s several months beyond the original timeline.

Six more patients at the Exeter Hospital have been infected with hepatitis C, bringing the total to 10.