TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas officials say a fourth former patient at Hays Medical Center has tested positive for a strain of hepatitis C linked to a cluster of New Hampshire cases traced to a traveling hospital technician.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced the latest positive test Friday. The other three positive tests were reported last month.
The KDHE says 474 people were potentially exposed to hepatitis C when David Kwiatkowksi worked at the Hays hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab from May 24 to Sept. 22, 2010.
The Hays Daily News reported that some specimens still are being processed.
Kwiatkowski has denied allegations that he stole drugs from a New Hampshire hospital, injected himself and contaminated syringes later used on patients. He previously worked in seven other states, including Kansas.
