According to a report on UPI the CDC investigated reports of an outbreak of acute hepatitis B and C in patients at two gastroenterology centers who had received anaesthesia during endoscopy procedures, all from the same anaesthesiologist.
The researchers found a link between the administration of propofol and six cases of hepatitis C and six cases of hepatitis B at one clinic and one case of hepatitis C infection at another clinic. The investigation found that the propofol was administrated by the same anaesthesiologist who inappropriately used a single-use vial of the drug for multiple patients.
Reuse of syringes to re-dose patients, with resulting contamination of medication vials used for subsequent patients, likely resulted in viral transmission, the researchers said. They published their findings in the journal Gastroenterology.