State reports first hepatitis C case among Audubon patients
State health officials today reported the first patient from Audubon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs having been infected with hepatitis C from an indicted former operating room scrub technician.
In a weekly update of test results from the investigation into surgery patients who may have contracted the disease from Kristen Diane Parker, the Colorado Department of Health reported 13 infected patients at Rose Medical Center in Denver and one at Audubon.
The results come the day after a federal grand jury handed up a 42-count indictment against Parker, a 26-year-old Elizabeth resident, accusing her of swapping dirty needles filled with saline solution for syringes filled with a painkiller intended for patients.
Parker is being held without bond pending an Aug. 6 hearing on charges of tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance – fentanyl citrate – by deceit.
On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced there were a total of 19 patients who tested positive for a type of hepatitis C that was associated with Parker, all of them from Rose Medical Center.
Health Department spokesman Mark Salley explained the discrepancy by noting that the U.S. Attorney’s office is dealing directly with the hospitals while health officials are relying on their own testing.
“It’s unfortunate to see an initial case at Audubon,” Salley said.
Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney, said the 19 people whom are being counted as victims thus far are the result of federal agents who are experts in the field examining hundreds of hospital files.
All 19 were people who had surgery at Rose on days when Parker was on duty, who did not have hepatitis C prior to surgery and who later contracted a specific genome type 1B, the same as Parker.
Further tests are required to do specific DNA sequencing tests on those results, Dorschner said. Those tests, however, may take several weeks or months, health officials said.
Dorschner said federal agents will also examine the results reported by the state health department on the infected Audubon patient.
“Additional charges are possible if other people test positive for hepatitis C and we can link it back to Parker,” he said.
Joe Hodas, a spokesman for Audubon, noted that it’s still possible that the DNA tests may not find a link to Parker and the patient.
“We’re hopeful that this particular person won’t be linked,” he said. But, he said, it’s also important to remember that the patient has contracted hepatitus C.
“Our goal and top priority is to make sure this person gets the appropriate information and care.”After Parker’s July 3 arrest, hospital officials at Rose reported there were 4,700 patients who had surgery while Parker worked there from October 2009 to April 2009.
Rose fired Parker who admitted to a Denver detective that she was stealing and using the painkiller, which is about 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine.
She then worked at Audubon, where hospital officials said about 1,000 patients had surgery during the time she was employed there.
Hospital officials have notified those patients and urged them to undergo screening for hepatitis C.
The health department’s viral hepatitis program reported that so far it has test results for 1,818 patients at Rose and another 894 at Audubon.
Of those results, 17 Rose patients and 5 at Audubon tested positive for a different genome type of hepatitis C that did not match with Parker.
So for, DNA sequencing tests have been completed on one Rose patient whose positive hepatitis C results have been linked to Parker.
To view the health department’s website on the test results, go to:
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/dc/Hepatitis/hepc/InvestigationCaseTable
