Prosecutors in Mansoura continued investigations into the transmission of the Hepatitis C Virus to a number of renal dialysis patients in six government hospitals.
According to the Daqahlia Health Affairs Directorate on Wednesday, 29 people had become infected with the virus at the Mansoura General Hospital while 27 people had become infected at the Sherbin Hospital.
An investigative report revealed that Wikalla Village Dialysis Unit in Sherbeen Township has three dialysis machines, and that no precautions were taken at the unit to prevent the transmission of Hepatitis C Virus between infected and non-infected patients.
According to the report, the drinking water cooler inside the unit was in need of maintenance, and it was being used by both patients and visitors.
The report went on to say that the nurses were untrained and cats were found living in the open storage room. It added that the unit had no intensive care unit or first aid equipment, and that medications that needed to be refrigerated such as Heparin were left unrefrigerated, as the refrigerator was not working.
The report recommended shutting down and transferring sub-units by annexing them into the main dialysis unit at the hospitals. It also recommended that each unit be subjected to the administrative, technical and financial supervision of the main unit.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
