Patients urged to get hepatitis tests

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Around two thousand people are being urged to get tested for hepatitis B following an outbreak.

Patients who attended the free Mission of Mercy Clinic In Berkeley County in June last year are being invited to attend testing after it was revealed that three patients and two volunteers had been infected by the blood-borne disease in November last year. Health officials are now writing to patients and volunteers who attended and worked at the clinic; most letters are being sent to people in West Virginia but people from other states, including Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Washington DC have also been targeted.

Health officials say that the risk of an extensive outbreak are very low but it is possible that other people may have been infected; officials are worried that people from low income families who do not have regular health checks may have contracted the disease but will not be aware of their condition and could subsequently pass it on to others. Of the cases that have already been diagnosed, the results indicate that four cases could have been contracted at the same source; officials presume this is the free dental clinic.

Hepatitis B is a blood-borne disease, which can be passed onto other people. 90 percent of cases can be treated very effectively but the disease can develop into a serious, long-term condition which affects the liver.

West Virginia State will pay for the majority of the blood tests and everyone who attended the clinic is encouraged to attend a blood testing clinic.

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