Dialysis patients, be alert to infection-control practices

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Dialysis patients, be alert to infection-control practices

April 24, 2007 12:35 am
Letter to the Editor
The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg

Dialysis patients need to be aware of the risk of contracting the hepatitis virus because of the environment at dialysis centers.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, deficiencies in recommended infection-control practices, as well as a failure to vaccinate dialysis patients against hepatitis, are not fully implemented.

My husband, a dialysis patient for eight years, passed away last year. Being a donor, it was discovered he had hepatitis B. This is a serious risk for patients and family members, as well.

-- Helen Pfohl, Spotsylvania