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Heart surgery patients warned of infection risk over contaminated equipment

UP to 20,000 heart patients who had cardiac bypass surgery over a period of almost six years have been warned they may have been exposed to contaminated medical machinery.

Thousands of heart patients who had cardiac bypass surgery over a period of almost six years have been warned they may have been exposed to contaminated medical machinery. Generic picture: AP
Thousands of heart patients who had cardiac bypass surgery over a period of almost six years have been warned they may have been exposed to contaminated medical machinery. Generic picture: AP

UP to 20,000 heart patients who had cardiac bypass surgery over a period of almost six years have been warned they may have been exposed to contaminated medical machinery during the operations.

One Victorian patient recently fell ill, and the Health Department has written to the cardiac bypass patients to warn them they were at “very low” risk of having been infected by mycobacterium chimaera.

Patients who had a cardiac bypass between July 1, 2011, and March 31, 2017, have been told to contact their cardiologist if they experience symptoms such as unexplained fevers or night sweats, unexplained weight loss, extreme fatigue, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

Mycobacterium chimaera has been found in the water tanks of devices used to keep blood and medicines at the correct temperature during bypass surgery.

The contamination is thought to have occurred overseas, during manufacturing.

All machines found to have been contaminated have been either decontaminated or replaced, the department says.

Precautionary letters were sent to a smaller number of Victorian patients in February following three infections in Australia and several overseas.

However, the discovery of a recent infection in a cardiac bypass patient from The Alfred hospital prompted an expanded warning to be mailed out this week.

“The additional risk posed by mycobacterium chimaera is very small,” the letter said.

“Infections, including those due to mycobacterium chimaera, can occur up to many months or years after surgery,” the department wrote.

“While I need to emphasise to you that the risk of an infection due to mycobacterium chimaera is very low, it is important that you have this information and understand that if this infection does develop, there are effective treatments available,” the department says in the letter.

Additional information for patients about the bacteria is also available at Better Health Channel: betterhealth.vic.gov.au

grant.mcarthur@news.com.au

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/heart-surgery-patients-warned-of-infection-risk-over-contaminated-equipment/news-story/abd72fa472991eab7ad6c4de01184af2