New Hampshire Hepatitis C Outbreak Expands to 31 Patients

Health authorities have announced that the number of persons suspected of having been infected with hepatitis C virus by a former New Hampshire lab worker has risen to 31. The state announced Tuesday that the newly diagnosed former lab patient has the same HCV strain carried by David Kwiatkowski, who was arrested last month and is accused of causing the infections through a drug-theft scheme at Exeter Hospital's cardiac catheterization lab. Initially, testing was recommended only for patients of the lab; now, however, the state is calling for the testing of some 3,300 people who had surgery or were in the hospital's intensive care unit while Kwiatkowski worked there. Testing clinics are being held at multiple locations around the state. As a traveling medical technician, Kwiatkowski worked in at least 18 hospitals in eight states.

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