Patients at Salem Hospital may have been exposed to hepatitis, HIV

Nearly 450 patients at Salem Hospital may have been exposed to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV due to bad practices when administering IV medications, hospital officials said Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the Mass General Brigham system, which owns Salem Hospital, said they were first made aware of the issue earlier this year and said the practice has been corrected. The potential exposures involved endoscopy patients over a time period of around two years.

The hospital has worked with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to review the issue and said the infection risk to patients is “extremely small.”

A letter was sent to patients who were potentially affected, but it did not mention the serious illnesses to which they may have been exposed.

The hospital said no infections have been reported as of Wednesday.

“The safety of our patients is our highest priority and we have undertaken multiple corrective actions in response to this event. We sincerely apologize to those who have been impacted and we remain committed to delivering high-quality, compassionate health care to our community,” the statement reads.

Editor’s note: Health officials initially said they were testing for Hepatitis A rather than Hepatitis C. There are vaccines that protect against Hepatitis A and B, but none to protect against C, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.