Public Meeting Tonight on Hep C Outbreak

State health officials will hold a public meeting tonight in Exeter to address the public's questions and concerns about a hepatitis C outbreak at Exeter Hospital that has at least 20 people.

The meeting will be held at at 6 p.m.

Dr. Jose Montero, the state's public health director, will be on hand.

“We  realize  there  is  a  great deal of anxiety and that many people have questions,”  Montero said in a statement. “As we have done for other outbreaks we want  people to be able to hear firsthand how the investigation has evolved and where we are in the process.”

Below is a news release about the meeting:

The  New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS)  Division  of Public Health Services (DPHS) is holding a meeting for members of the public to answer questions about the hepatitis C outbreak at Exeter  Hospital.

The meeting will be held tomorrow night, Friday, June 15
at  6:00  pm  in  the  Exeter  High School auditorium at 1 Blue Hawk Drive, Exeter (GPS address 315 Epping Road).

The  purpose  of the meeting is to explain the process of the investigation by  DPHS and answer questions about it for anyone interested. Speakers will include   Dr.   Sharon   Alroy-Preis,   State Epidemiologist,  Dr.  Jodie Dionne-Odom, Deputy State Epidemiologist, and Dr. José Montero, Director of Public Health at DHHS.

“We  realize  there  is  a  great deal of anxiety and that many people have questions,”  said  Dr. Montero, “As we have done for other outbreaks we want people to be able to hear firsthand how the investigation has evolved and where we are in the process.”

So  far  20  patients  have been identified as being infected with the same strain  of  hepatitis  C.  The  common  link  among all the patients is the Cardiac  Catheterization Lab and its recovery room at Exeter Hospital. DHHS yesterday expanded the recommendation on patients of these units who should be  tested for the virus back to October 1, 2010 through May 25, 2012. This is  a  change  from testing recommendations set last week at April 1, 2011. Exeter  Hospital  is  in  the  process of contacting these newly identified patients.

Hepatitis   C  is  a  viral  infection  transmitted  by  blood.  It  causes
inflammation  of  the  liver  that can lead to chronic health issues. It is passed  from  person  to  person  through contact with an infected person’s blood.

Any  patients  who  fit  the  above  criteria can contact Exeter Hospital’s Information and Referral Center to make an appointment for testing at (603) 580-6124.   For   questions   and   information about  hepatitis  C  visit www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/hepatitisc/index.htm or www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/index.htm  or  call  the  DPHS Bureau  of Infectious Disease Control at 603-271-4496.

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