Updated: 2/27/2020
A recent article from The Injury Board Blog Network has reported that 1,800 veterans at the John Cochran Veterans Administration were exposed to HIV, Hepetitis B and Hepetitis C based on a letter sent by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“According to reports, technicians at the hospital washed the dental equipment by hand prior to putting the tools through the sterilization process. However, official protocol requires that the equipment go directly to the hospital’s sterilizing department for specialized cleaning. Experts in infection control and prevention recently stated that while hand washing the equipment helps, it is not enough to remove all the protein material, blood, serum, and debris that’s left on medical instruments after use. Instead, the instruments must go through an enzymatic cleaning process that often combines ultrasound and enzymes to shake the debris off and then dissolve it.”
The veterans are encouraged, in the letter, to get a free blood test as soon as possible to make sure that they haven’t contracted the virus.
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To read the full article go to: Injury Board Blog Network
