12 infected with Hepatitis C by a doctor at clinic in Victoria

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDApr 9 2010

Hepatitis C is a vial infection that is spread much like HIV with shared needles, blood or body fluids. The Victorian Police has been brought in to investigate a cluster of 12 hepatitis C positive cases who attended a late-term abortion clinic in Melbourne.

According to the Department of Health painstaking and detailed investigations have failed to identify the actual mode of spread. It found that these pregnant women were infected by an anesthetist at a private clinic at Croydon, in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, between June 2008 and December 2009.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Doctor John Carnie says he cannot explain how the patients could be affected by accident. He said, "Because I have been unable to determine the mode of transmission of the virus in this case, I have also brought the matter to attention of Victoria Police… The police have asked me to provide them with a detailed written statement and summary of all the evidence we have and I'm in the process of doing that." This discovery was made after 3 cases were reported from one clinic following which nine similar cases cropped up.

All the staff was tested except for one overseas doctor. "So on that person's return from overseas we arranged for that person to be tested and this was at the beginning of February. And the results were clear. The person was hepatitis C positive," Dr Carnie said.

Following this development the doctor is question is suspended from practice and Medical Practitioners Board says it is unable to identify him. As per this suspension the doctor will not be able to practice anywhere in Australia.

According to the state law doctors with hepatitis C are free to practice in Victoria as long as they follow infection-control guidelines. Guidelines stipulate they cannot be involved in surgery performed in internal cavities of the body or procedures that might increase the risk of needlestick injury. According to the Medical Practitioners Board "Normal anesthesia that follows infection control guidelines carries an extremely low or non existent risk of transmission of hepatitis C."

Two of the women have recovered and another has a very low viral load of infection. The decision to come out in the public with this news is to get all the other people who underwent procedures at the Croydon clinic tested. The police team will come in if there are charges to be laid over the outbreak. According to a police spokesperson, “Victoria Police has established an investigative team which will examine any potential criminal involvement in this outbreak separate to the Department of health investigation.”