nearly 5,000 patients recalled to be tested for hepatitis and HIV after a failure to sterilize dental equipment at Tarbes-Lourdes hospital

4,700 patients were recalled to be tested for hepatitis B and C and HIV, after a failure to sterilize dental equipment, at the Tarbes-Lourdes hospital (Hautes-Pyrénées), France learned on Wednesday October 11 Bleu Béarn Bigorre.

A lack of sterilization of equipment at the hospital’s dental center is the cause of this large-scale screening. The problematic tools are dentists’ instrument holders that were not sterilized properly.

Recommended screenings

A letter from the hospital management, consulted by France Bleu Béarn Bigorre, was sent to patients for acts which can date back to 2006. After inspection, the ARS, the regional health agency, ensures that the practice complies with regulations with a complete sterilization cycle. The risk of infection is therefore extremely low according to the ARS.

However, screenings are recommended to remove doubts. Patients are invited to contact their GP to take a blood test. “The information can be anxiety-provoking, but it is to eliminate any doubt and allow patients to have access to screening and in the worst case, but very unlikely, to rapid treatment”indicates Manon Mordelet, the departmental director of the ARS in the Hautes-Pyrénées.

The hospital “should take care of everything”

The CGT Union of the Tarbes and Lourdes hospital asks why the hospital, responsible for this lack of sterilization, does not take charge of the screening itself. “People need to go to a doctor, recalls Jean-Marc Michaud, CGT secretary of the Tarbes and Lourdes hospitals. It’s social security that will pay, I think it’s the hospital that should take care of everything from A to Z.”

A toll-free number has also been set up: 0 800 732 332.