Health Authorities Under Fire for Lax Control

Health authorities have come under fire over yet another massive hepatitis C infection caused by the re-use of syringes.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said Friday that 101 out of 927 patients who visited Hanyang Orthopedics Clinic in Wonju, Gangwon Province, from 2011-14 are suspected to have contracted the disease due to the re-use of syringes. The patients received the Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment.

This comes only four months after 95 people were infected with the disease after a doctor reused syringes at Dana Hyeondae Clinic in Yngcheon-gu, southwestern Seoul.

The health authorities have been criticized for belatedly launched an investigation into the clinic in November last year, four months after receiving a report from 14 infected patients.

The 59-year-old doctor shut down the clinic.

They initially dismissed the case citing a lack of a causal relationship between the infection and sanitation at the clinic.

Hepatitis C occurs through blood-to-blood contact associated with intravenous injections. Transmission through physical contact or bodily fluids is unlikely.

It is curable if detected early, but sufferers can develop complications such as scarring of the liver and cirrhosis, or liver malfunction.

Meanwhile, the authorities said blood sample tests are underway for 3,996 patients who received injections last year for possible...