More pain for dental patients in Sydney
Print Edition
Up to 11,000 Australian dental patients were urged to see their doctors yesterday over fears they may have been exposed to HIV and hepatitis due to hygiene breaches at clinics in Sydney.
New South Wales Health said 12 dentists from four surgeries were accused of poor cleaning and equipment sterilization practices and advised patients to get blood tests for HIV as well as Hepatitis A, B and C as a precaution.
While NSW Health director of health protection Jeremy McAnulty said no cases had been found so far and the risk of transmission was low, there was concern about people who had undergone invasive procedures. “It’s important to stress we have no evidence of infection at this point, that no transmission has occurred. But the experts have been concerned in light of the reports of the problems with infection control at these facilities, that a risk is there,” he said.
The worry is that instruments may not have been properly cleaned and sterilized, risking the transmission of blood-borne diseases into the gums.
The scare was sparked by a complaint about one of the practices last November and subsequent investigations revealed “significant” safety breaches at the clinic and others, said Shane Fryer of the Dental Council of NSW. “Audits showed there were some problems with the cleaning, sterilization and storage of instruments.”
So far six dentists have been suspended and another six have had conditions placed on their licenses.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
