Misused equipment and poorly trained staff have forced thousands to undergo blood testing for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C over the past decade. For example, more than 2,300 patients were potentially exposed to infectious disease at a Wisconsin hospital where a fingerstick blood glucose sampling pen wasn’t properly cleaned between uses.
The CDC counted at least 15 outbreaks of HBV infection in the past 10 years associated with failing to follow basic principles of infection control when assisting with blood glucose monitoring.
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