After discovering 12 cases of viral hepatitis had ties to a heart clinic in Beckley, W.Va., the West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources is urging patients to get tested for hepatitis.
According to a WVVA report, 2,300 patients who received a cardiac stress test at Raleigh Heart Clinic between March 1, 2012, and March 27, 2015, may have been exposed to hepatitis B or C. The DHHR issued a letter to potentially affected patients.
"Observations of the clinic's practices did not identify a clear mechanism that could explain hepatitis B or C transmission," the letter reads. "However, we are concerned that there is a possibility that you could have been exposed to a virus through injectable medications received at the clinic during your cardiac stress test."
Even though no cases of HIV transmission have been identified, the DHHR is urging patients to get tested for hepatitis A, B and C, as well as HIV.