Health

Patients of Charlottetown foot clinic told to get tested for HIV and hepatitis

Published

3 months ago

June 25, 2024

Prince Edward Island’s Chief Public Health Office is investigating what it calls a break in infection prevention measures at Johnson Podiatry.

The issues have been corrected, CPHO said in a news release Monday, but clients who went to the clinic from Jan. 1, 2022, until April 8, 2024, “may have undergone procedures in which equipment was improperly cleaned and/or disinfected/sterilized and/or re-used.”. At the time, the clinic was located on Longworth Avenue in Charlottetown. It has since moved to Stratford.

Public health officials described the risk as very low, but they can’t rule out people having been exposed to hepatitis C, hepatitis B, or HIV.

“I want to emphasize that no one is ill or has reported illness,” said Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I.’s chief public health officer. “But of course, when there are concerns around infection prevention control, we want to make sure that people aren’t sick.”

The risk of infection is very low, says Dr. Heather Morrison. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)

With blood-borne pathogens, she said, “You can have a virus and not always be sick.”

The CPHO is recommending that clients of Johnson Podiatry during the affected dates have themselves tested if they had any procedure that caused a break or cut in the skin, including:

Injections into the skin of any kind.
Treatment for an ingrown nail.
Treatment for an ulcer.
Corn or callus removal surgery.

Clients who received non-invasive services, such as being fitted for orthotics, do not need to be tested, Morrison said.

The sign on the glass door for Johnson Podiatry in Stratford. — Johnson Podiatry has recently moved to Stratford. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)

The investigation comes after a complaint came in to P.E.I. Environmental Health Department.

“Upon inspections, it was found that proper cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilization was not being followed for equipment that was being re-used on clients,” the CPHO said.

Co-owner insists processes safe

Dr. John Johnson, a podiatrist and co-owner of the foot clinic, said staff have always adhered to the highest standards of sterilization and hygiene.

“I’m very confident there is going to be no risk to the public and everything we have been doing has been safe for all Islanders,” he said.

We’ve been following Atlantic Canada’s guidelines for the past 40 years and there have been no reports of any possible transmissions throughout that time.— Dr. John Johnson

Johnson believes he was doing nothing wrong. He said he was told by one of the health officials who inspected the clinic that P.E.I. is implementing new guidelines from Ontario around the cleaning and sterilization of instruments.

“We’ve been following Atlantic Canada’s guidelines for the past 40 years and there have been no reports of any possible transmissions throughout that time,” he said.

“With these new guidelines coming into place, they do things a little differently in Ontario than we have been doing in Atlantic Canada, and that’s where all this comes from.”

Grey surgical scissors in package. — The clinic has begun using single-use instruments even for procedures such as toenail trimming, Johnson says. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)

Johnson said he now uses only single-use instruments: “If I use them to trim your nails, I have to throw them in the garbage after each use.”

He said he supports that method, though buying single-use instruments bears an additional cost that will have to be passed on to his clients.

The CPHO says the P.E.I. guidelines were last updated in 2019.

How to contact CPHO

The CPHO is in the process of mailing notices to clients who received treatment at Johnson Podiatry.

Patients wanting to be tested for infection are being asked to contact the Chief Public Health Office by email or call 1-800-958-6400 to request a laboratory form. These forms are required for attending the scheduled clinics.

Health P.E.I. is offering two blood collection clinics at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for clients to be tested:.

June 27, 7:50 a.m. to 3 p.m.
June 28, 7:20 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Health P.E.I. said it is working on scheduling additional clinics in Summerside and at other sites.

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Health

The US is mailing Americans COVID tests again. Here’s how to get them

Published

23 hours ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans can once again order COVID-19 tests, without being charged, sent straight to their homes.

The U.S. government reopened the program on Thursday, allowing any household to order up to four at-home COVID nasal swab kits through the website, covidtests.gov. The tests will begin shipping, via the United States Postal Service, as soon as next week.

The website has been reopened on the heels of a summer COVID-19 virus wave and heading into the fall and winter respiratory virus season, with health officials urging Americans to get an updated COVID-19 booster and their yearly flu shot.

“Before you visit with your family and friends this holiday season, take a quick test and help keep them safe from COVID-19,” U.S. Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell said in a statement.

U.S. regulators approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine that is designed to combat the recent virus strains and, they hope, forthcoming winter ones, too. Vaccine uptake is waning, however. Most Americans have some immunity from prior infections or vaccinations, but under a quarter of U.S. adults took last fall’s COVID-19 shot.

Using the swab, people can detect current virus strains ahead of the fall and winter respiratory virus season and the holidays. Over-the-counter COVID-19 at-home tests typically cost around $11, as of last year. Insurers are no longer required to cover the cost of the tests.

Before using any existing at-home COVID-19 tests, you should check the expiration date. Many of the tests have been given an extended expiration from the date listed on the box. You can check on the Food and Drug Administration’s website to see if that’s the case for any of your remaining tests at home.

Since COVID-19 first began its spread in 2020, U.S. taxpayers have poured billions of dollars into developing and purchasing COVID-19 tests as well as vaccines. The Biden administration has given out 1.8 billion COVID-19 tests, including half distributed to households by mail. It’s unclear how many tests the government still has on hand.

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Health

Free COVID tests are back. Here’s how to order a test to your home

Published

23 hours ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans can once again order free COVID-19 tests sent straight to their homes.

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Health

Disability rights groups launching Charter challenge against MAID law

Published

24 hours ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – A coalition of disability rights groups says it is launching a Charter challenge against a part of Canada’s law on medical assistance in dying.

The group, which also includes two individual plaintiffs, argues that what’s known as track two of the MAID law has resulted in premature deaths.

Under the law, patients whose natural deaths are not reasonably foreseeable but whose condition leads to intolerable suffering can apply for a track-two assisted death.

The coalition says track two of the MAID law has had a direct effect on the lives of people with disabilities and argues medically assisted death should only be available to those whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable.

The executive vice-president of Inclusion Canada – which is part of the coalition – says there has been an alarming trend where people with disabilities are seeking assisted death due to social deprivation, poverty and a lack of essential supports.

Krista Carr says those individuals should instead be supported in order to live better lives.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

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