Vets Warned of Possible Virus Exposure

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Vets Warned of Possible Virus Exposure

Jun 02 7:00 PM US/Eastern

 

By DINESH RAMDE

Associated Press Writer

MILWAUKEE

 

More than 22,000 veterans who underwent prostate biopsies at veterans'

hospitals across the country are being warned that improperly sterilized

equipment may have exposed them to deadly viruses. Officials said Friday it

was unlikely someone could get infected by the equipment, and no patient is

known to have been sickened. Still, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

decided to offer free blood tests as a precaution after officials in Maine

questioned whether the cleaning procedure was thorough enough, said VA spokesman

Jim Benson. The prostate biopsy equipment includes a probe that, if

improperly cleaned, could retain traces of body fluids containing the viruses

that cause hepatitis or AIDS. Since April, the VA has alerted patients of

potential inadequacies with the biopsy cleaning procedure at 21 medical centers

in 18 states, plus Puerto Rico. So far, about 7,000 vets contacted the VA

after receiving the letter and about 2,000 have been

tested, Benson said. " It's too soon to have any information on their test

results because each of the potential diseases we might be worried about require

not only initial tests but confirmatory tests as well, " Benson said. " Right now

our first priority is getting information out to every veteran. " Dennis

Maki, an infectious disease expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said

the prostate examination technique involves inserting a stainless steel scope

about the diameter of a pencil into the rectum. Then doctors use a hollow needle

to draw a sample from the prostate gland. The standard sterilizing

procedure called for the equipment to be flushed with a disinfecting solution,

but officials grew concerned that blood and fecal residue might remain unless

the tube were physically scrubbed as well. It's possible but unlikely that

someone could get infected that way, said Michael Erdmann, chief of staff of the

Milwaukee VA Medical Center. " We're

concerned for the safety of our patients, but really, the odds are really quite

low, " he said. The problem wasn't manpower so much as cleaning instructions

provided by the manufacturer that didn't specify the need for a brush, Erdmann

said. The equipment was made by B-K Medical Systems in Denmark. Company

officials from neither B-K nor its Massachusetts-based parent company, Analogic,

immediately returned phone calls by The Associated Press on Friday. Michael

O'Rourke, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said he was satisfied

with the VA's response. " I don't know what more they can do, " he said.

Peter Gaytan, the director of veterans affairs for the American Legion, said his

group is reaching out to veterans to make sure the VA has addressed their

concerns. " What the American Legion wants to make sure is that this mistake

isn't the responsibility of overworked VA staff, and if it is, they need to hire

more people, " he said. ___ On the

Net: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: http://www.va.gov/

 

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not

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