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Affecting change in Nevada’s IC regulations

Briefings on Infection Control, October 1, 2009

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Everyone needs a wake-up call now and then. For some, it’s reprimand from your boss. For others, it’s a hepatitis C outbreak that puts 63,000 people at risk for infection.

In Nevada, it was the latter. In February 2008, Nevada health officials revealed unsafe injection practices involving the reuse of syringes and the sharing of single use medication vials between patients at an endoscopy center in Las Vegas. More than 12,000 of the 63,000 at risk patients have been tested for infection. As of October 2008, the Southern Nevada Health District had identified 105 clinic-associated hepatitis C cases, making it the largest outbreak of bloodborne illness in the country.

Everyone needs a wake-up call now and then. For some, it’s reprimand from your boss. For others, it’s a hepatitis C outbreak that puts 63,000 people at risk for infection.

In Nevada, it was the latter. In February 2008, Nevada health officials revealed unsafe injection practices involving the reuse of syringes and the sharing of single use medication vials between patients at an endoscopy center in Las Vegas. More than 12,000 of the 63,000 at risk patients have been tested for infection. As of October 2008, the Southern Nevada Health District had identified 105 clinic-associated hepatitis C cases, making it the largest outbreak of bloodborne illness in the country.

On the plus side, the outbreak forced the state health department into action, says Marla McDade Williams, MPA, bureau chief at the Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance at the State Health Division.

“What happened in Las Vegas illustrated that we had disconnects between our public health systems, because the hepatitis C cases themselves were discovered by the Southern Nevada Health District,” Williams says. “They were traced back to a facility that was licensed by us, the Bureau of Healthcare Quality and Compliance at the State Health Division, and we realized at the time the resources we had been devoting to survey and certification functions were inadequate to get to all of the 11 or 12,000 licensed facilities that we have in Nevada.”

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Briefings on Infection Control.

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