Exeter Hospital Hepatitis C Victim: 'I'm Scared'

One of ten people who contracted hepatitis C after an outbreak at says he's scared but trying to make the best of the situation.

The man, who Exeter Patch is not identifying, said he made it through open heart surgery before somehow contracting hepatitis C – a chronic and sometimes fatal liver disease.

"I'm scared," he said in an e-mail message. "My family is scared, my friends are saddened.

"It saddens me that I made it through open heart surgery only to be beat down by a virus ... I am faced with the fear of more complications or death."

State health officials the hepatitis C outbreak last week. They initially said four people were infected – but test results this week showed contracted the disease. Officials said the outbreak happened in the hospital's cardiac catheterization lab but are still trying to figure out exactly how the disease got in there and was transmitted.

The man said hospital staff have been handling the situation in a "responsible" manner.

"Exeter Hospital is a fine facility and they have taken good care of me from the start," he said, adding his doctors have been "caring."

Health officials have been in the process of testing more than 650 patients who have been treated at the cath lab where the outbreak originated. About 500 of those people have had samples sent for testing so far. It takes seven to 10 days for results to come back.

Hepatitis C can be treated with medication, though treatment can lead to complications like anaemia – a weakening of red blood cells.

"Hopefully ... we all make it beyond this," the man said. "Please hope for the best."

PREVIOUS COVERAGE