HIV and hepatitis testing was offered to 185 patients following a serious error at a hospital in the Southern Denmark region.
According to DR, an insulin pen was used on several diabetic patients at the Sygehus Sønderjylland ward in Sønderborg, potentially exposing them to other health risks. A press release from Sygehus Sønderjylland stated that this was a serious accident and that the hospital deeply regrets the incident, emphasizing that they have strengthened their guidelines to prevent similar occurrences in the future. (Continue reading after the announcement)
According to the hospital, the needle on the pen was changed each time, but the same insulin pen was used for many patients, which contradicts the hospital's current guidelines.
The department discovered 185 patients who received insulin via a pen that had not been changed and therefore could be susceptible to infection.
Reduced chances of infection
The relevant department at the hospital contacted the patients over the past few days and offered them tests to determine if they had contracted HIV (which can lead to AIDS) and hepatitis C.
According to the source, Thue Hvorslev, the managing director at Sygehus Sønderjylland, stated: “We contacted all the patients and explained what happened. We offered a test to see if something must have happened. We don't believe anything happened, but we really want to be sure. According to the hospital's assessment, the probability of hepatitis or HIV infection is very low, and this is also what the initial tests show,” according to the managing director.
The director also explained that there are already a fair number of samples, but not all of them have been tested yet, but so far all the tests that have been conducted have come back negative. He added that the hospital expects the same result for all the samples, but this needs to be confirmed. He also indicated that the hospital had investigated whether such a practice had occurred elsewhere in the hospital and it turned out that it had not.
According to the source, the hospital reported the incident to the Danish Patient Safety Agency.
