Hepatitis C Virus Potentially Transmitted by Opioid Drug Diversion from a Nurse - Washington, August 2017-March 2018.

Hepatitis C Virus Potentially Transmitted by Opioid Drug Diversion from a Nurse - Washington, August 2017-March 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019 Apr 26;68(16):374-376 Authors: Njuguna HN, Stinson D, Montgomery P, Turner N, D'Angeli M, Carr J, Podczervinski S, Wasserman C, Ramachandran S, Lucas T, Bixler D, Perkins K, Benowitz I, Moorman A Abstract During January 22-March 23, 2018, a local health department in Washington was notified of two patients who received a diagnosis of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Neither patient had behavioral risk factors associated with HCV acquisition; however, both had received injectable narcotic (opioid) drugs from the same nurse during separate visits to an emergency department (ED) at a local hospital on December 6 and December 16, 2017. Investigation revealed that the nurse had accessed the automated drug dispensing system at a higher frequency than had other staff members, admitted diverting* patients' injectable narcotic and antihistamine drugs for personal use, and tested positive for HCV antibodies (anti-HCV) on March 19, 2018, but did not have quantifiable HCV RNA. Specimens from both patients were sent to CDC for genetic testing, and HCV viral variants analysis found a significant level of genetically similar HCV variants in both patients, indicating a common source of infection. Further investigation was conducted to confirm the infection source, identify other potentially exp...
Source: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkl... - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tags: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep Source Type: research