Jefferson hospital warns of possible infections

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has notified 51 patients who underwent gastrointestinal procedures that a lapse in infection-control practices may have exposed them to dangerous blood-borne viruses, according to a hospital statement.

Patients were warned by letter of potential exposure to viruses that cause Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV. Subsequent review of patients' records found no known cases of HIV infection, said hospital spokeswoman Jacqueline Kozloski.

The patients were offered free blood tests to screen for infection.

"As of last week, 48 patients had received their free baseline testing and there was no evidence of infection," the statement said. "Additional follow-up testing has been recommended for all patients."

During gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures, a flexible fiber-optic scope is threaded into the digestive tract to visualize the stomach, intestines, or esophagus. Surgical instruments may also be inserted to remove biopsy tissue samples.

The possible contamination occurred during four weeks in February and March. In the letter to patients, the hospital explained that during a biopsy, "sterile, single-use" forceps are rinsed in a cup of water that is supposed to be discarded after the procedure. Instead, "some rinse water was reused for a small number of patients."

The hospital said it was waiving the cost of the patients' GI procedures and "in the highly unlikely event that an infection has been transmitted," it will provide free follow-up treatment.

As a corrective measure, Jefferson has reviewed infection-control practices and required retraining of all employees in the GI unit.

Jefferson's website says it has one of the busiest GI units on the East Coast, performing more than 13,000 endoscopic procedures a year.

Expert medical groups have developed stringent guidelines for disinfecting GI endoscopy equipment. As a result, transmission of infection is very rare, with an estimated frequency of one in 1.8 million procedures.

Both Hepatitis B and C infect the liver and may cause chronic infection that leads to liver cirrhosis, failure, or cancer. The C form is generally mild in its early stage, but causes chronic liver disease about 85 percent of the time, compared with 10 percent for the B form.