Hospital patients urged to go for hepatitis B test

Patients at a Scottish hospital have been urged to be tested for hepatitis B after a case was identified on a ward.

NHS Tayside said it was taking the precautionary step of contacting 36 patients who were in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, earlier this year to ask them to go to their GP to have a blood test for the virus.

It follows the identification of a case of infection with a particular strain of hepatitis B in one ward.

It is understood the person could have picked up the blood-borne virus from another patient, but the health board is releasing no further details.

NHS Tayside said it had decided to recommend other patients on the ward have a blood test to rule out the possibility of any other cases of this particular virus.

Dr Kirsty Licence, consultant in public health medicine, said: “We are asking patients to arrange a blood test as a precautionary measure and I would stress that the risk of infection in these circumstances is low.

“We have undertaken a thorough investigation of this particular infection and have not identified any clear means by which this infection was acquired. No new infections with this particular strain of hepatitis B have been identified during our investigations to date.

“This means that we have no reason to think that anyone else may have acquired this infection but we are taking a cautious approach. I would stress that we have already made contact with all those patients involved, and their GPs, directly.”