Have you heard?
Nearly 7,000 people in the Ottawa area will be receiving letters informing them that they may have been exposed to HIV, Hep B and Hep C during procedures at a local (non-hospital) medical facility.
Yikes!
According to Ottawa Public Health (OPH) and Ottawa's medical officer of health (Isra Levy), there are currently no known infections resulting from "lapses in infection control" at the medical facility. At this point, the facility remains unnamed, although it's been referred to as a non-hospital medical facility. Also unspecified are the "lapses in infection control" which took place - though Levy did say that "there are a number of reasons why problems arise including the improper cleaning of equipment and inadequate sterilization" (CBC News).
Adding to the apparent list of unknowns - Ottawa Public Health isn't sure when the issue began or for how long it went on, which is why so many people are being contacted regarding potential exposure. Again, it's been made clear that at this point there are no known infections resulting from this potential exposure.
I'd hate to be in the line of fire on this one!
You can read more about this by clicking the links below:
CBC News: Ottawa says 6,800 exposed to infection risk
Fox News: Nearly 7,000 may have been exposed to HIV at Ottawa Medical Facility
More information should be available next week -- stay tuned!
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