Hospital Warns 600 Ex-Patients of Hepatitis C Risk

About 600 former patients at Long Beach Memorial Hospital have been notified that they may have been exposed to hepatitis C through a health worker, hospital and state health officials said.

A part-time contractor “with limited patient contact” tested positive for the virus and, beginning in August, former patients were notified as a precaution, hospital spokeswoman Rhoda Weiss said. She said patients were offered free testing for hepatitis C. The tests are continuing.

The name and job title of the worker were not disclosed to protect the worker’s privacy. Weiss said, however, that the worker was not involved in any invasive procedures or with high-risk patients.

Hepatitis C cannot be spread through casual contact, only by exposure to infected blood, such as through injection drug use or needle sticks.

Dr. Duc Vugia, chief of disease investigations and surveillance for the state Department of Health Services, said the risk to the patients is unknown but is believed to be very low. Patients were notified and offered testing “just to be sure” because so little is known about hepatitis C, he said.