Patients of a medical clinic north of Guelph are being warned that they may have inadvertently been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health said Monday that letters had been sent to some patients from the upper level of the Riverview Medical Group, which is located on Queen Street East in Fergus.
Specifically at risk are women who underwent endometrial biopsies or had IUDs inserted at the clinic.
Health officials say the overall risk to those women is “extremely low” and was caused by “a lapse in infection control practices.”
According to the health unit, the first complaint about the issue was received Feb. 5.
An inspection conducted on the next business day found that while workers at the clinic were sterilizing their equipment, they were not using published best practices to do so, potentially putting patients at risk.
“Although the risk is very low, it is not possible to estimate an individual’s risk, which is why it is recommend all patients who had an intrauterine device (IUD) inserted or an endometrial biopsy at this location should get tested for the blood-borne viruses hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV,” the health unit said in a statement.
It is not clear for how long the sterilization techniques in question had been used at the clinic.
According to the health unit, anyone who used the clinic for those two procedures between its opening in 2005 and Feb. 8, 2016 -- a number of people believed to be somewhere around 1,200 -- should be tested for the viruses.
Patients of Riverview since Feb. 8 and future patients are not at risk, the health unit said.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is also investigating the issue.
Staff members at the clinic declined to speak with CTV News on Monday, saying any communication would come from the health unit.
Patients contacted by Riverview Medical Group wanting more information can contact the clinic directly, their family doctor or a public health hotline at 519-823-4920.
