When the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation discovered partially sterilized dental instruments in its clinic last September, it offered free blood tests to all the patients who could have made contact with the tools. Now the hospital is asking those patients to return for a second blood test, to see if any of those partially sterilized instruments could have transmitted an infectious disease.
There is a reason why it takes two blood tests.
They're looking for Hepatitis B, C, and HIV viruses. Those viruses take weeks to months to detect in the body after infection, so the first test determined if any of the patients already carried them. The second test, three months later, determines if any new viruses have developed that could be linked to the partially sterilized instruments.
Out of 191 patients seen last September during the time period in question, up to 13 patients might have come into contact with the instruments.
Health officials at the Alaska Section of Epidemiology and the Centers for Disease Control have said all along that the risk of infection from these instruments is low and perhaps theoretical. That’s because the instruments had gone through the first two steps of a three-part cleaning process, and the viruses don’t last long outside the body. On top of that, few people in the YK Delta carry these viruses to pass on, and many people are vaccinated against Hepatitis B as infants.
Approximately 151 patients chose to get tested last fall. To get the follow-up test, patents can walk in to the Bethel hospital Monday through Thursday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and register for lab testing. Patients who live in villages can walk into their village clinic Monday through Friday, anytime during normal business hours.
To prevent a similar incident from happening again, the YKHC dental clinic created four sterilization technician positions last fall, and the clinic now requires both the dental assistant and the provider to verify that all instruments have been fully sterilized.
YKHC is currently implementing recommendations on their sterilization procedures throughout the corporation, which were delivered from a consultant last December.
