Vegas Health Agency Reports Big Rise in Positive Hepatitis Tests

by Amy Judd | March 28, 2008 at 11:46 am

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It's no secret that Las Vegas is known as the city of sin, and I'm sure health clinics in the area are well prepared for that fact, but health officials in the area are now reporting a threefold increase in the number of positive tests for hepatitis C. However, they are not saying whether that increase can be traced to a southern Nevada medical centre, where it was discovered needles were reused on patients.
The Southern Nevada Health District usually receives positive results for between 20 to 40 hepatitis patients a day, but now it has been receiving up to 150.

Telephone calls will be needed to identify patients who may have contracted hepatitis C from the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada
or the affiliated Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center in Las Vegas.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," said Brian Labus, senior epidemiologist for the health district. Health officials last month began notifying 40,000 patients treated since 2004 at the Endoscopy Center to get tested for hepatitis strains C, B and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"It is really going to take some time," Labus said.

The investigation was triggered by the discovery that six patients contracted hepatitis C on two dates last year due to unsafe practices at the Endoscopy Center.

A seventh person with the virus has been linked to the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center in Las Vegas. Both clinics are among six headed by Dr. Dipak Desai.

Authorities still need to pinpoint when patients who've tested positive contracted the virus, and Labus said calls will seek information about patients' medical history and risk factors, including whether they use intravenous drugs.

The earliest the district could have complete results is July, he said, although some preliminary findings should be available earlier.