By Eric Olson
The Associated Press
OMAHA -- Seventeen more cases of hepatitis C were discovered
after blood from patients at a Fremont cancer clinic was retested, state
epidemiologist Dr. Tom Safranek said Thursday.
That brings the total number of cases to 99 in Fremont. Each of the
infected people were treated at the clinic between March 2000 to December
2001.
"I'm cautious about saying the matter is over, but I'll be pretty
surprised if we find additional cases now," Safranek said. "We have no
plans to do any more testing."
An initial round of testing last year on 486 former clinic patients
revealed 82 hepatitis C cases.
Blood samples were retested, using a different technique that looks for
viral RNA, after a woman who initially tested negative was found to have
hepatitis C.
The second round of tests uncovered the 17 additional infections. Those
people were notified of their infection last week by their personal
physicians, Safranek said.
Dr. Alexandre Macedo De Oliveira, epidemic intelligence service officer
for the Centers for Disease Control, has said the Fremont hepatitis C
outbreak was the largest of its kind in the nation, and perhaps the world.
Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver and the most common
bloodborne infection in the nation. The virus causes no symptoms in most
cases and the majority of carriers do not know they are infected.
The virus affects the liver and can eventually lead to cirrhosis or
liver cancer.
The infected patients in Fremont all were treated from March 2000 to
December 2001 at a clinic operated by Dr. Tahir Javed.
The clinic is now closed, and Javed has returned to his native
Pakistan.
The infections were caused by a nurse's failure to follow sanitary
precautions, Safranek said.
Javed's attorney, Michael Jones of Omaha, did not return a telephone
message left at his office. A receptionist said Jones would be out of town
until next week.
Fremont attorney Jim Davis, who represents 20 infected people who have
filed lawsuits against Javed, said he was not surprised by the news of the
additional cases.
He said he suspects there are more cases, pointing out that there were
people who did not get tested after receiving letters advising them to do
so.
Safranek said he believes there will be few, if any, more cases linked
to Javed's clinic.
Safranek said a portion of the 127 people who weren't tested by
Nebraska Health and Human Services were tested by their own physicians.
Some have died of cancer, he said, and some didn't want to know their
status because they already have numerous other health problems.
Davis said none of the 17 people who recently found out they were
infected have sought his legal counsel.
The state began an investigation in September 2002 when health
authorities were notified by a Fremont physician that there seemed to be
an unusually high number of hepatitis C cases diagnosed in Fremont.
The 17 additional cases has brought into question the standard testing
method for the virus in patients with compromised immune systems, such as
cancer patients.
Safranek said that the run of false-negatives in Fremont will be
considered by national health and laboratory experts and may lead to a new
standard for testing for patients with compromised immune systems.
