REGINA - A third health region in Saskatchewan said Tuesday it has been reusing syringes, but also suggested that patients aren't at great risk of infection.
The Sun Country Health Region, in the southeastern corner of Saskatchewan, said syringes were reused occasionally in the operating room at Weyburn General Hospital to inject medication into an intravenous bag.
"There is an extremely low-level risk to any patient. The risk is so low that follow-up testing is not recommended at this time," according to a health region news release.
"The set-up of the bag and intravenous tubing results in fluid being injected into the intravenous line. There is very little risk of the syringe being exposed to a patient's body fluids."
A fresh syringe is supposed to be used each time to avoid any blood-borne diseases from one patient possibly being transferred into the blood of another.
Sun Country officials, who could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday, made the discovery during a review ordered last week by Saskatchewan public health.
The latest announcement follows word last week that syringes were being reused at a hospital in Lloydminster, a city that straddles the boundary with Alberta, and within a mental health outpatient program in the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region.
Those cases came to light after Alberta health officials announced that up to 2,700 patients would be tested for hepatitis and HIV after syringes were reused at a health clinic in High Prairie.
Since 2001, the Center for Disease Control in the United States has identified several hepatitis C outbreaks associated with syringe reuse. It was a common practice in the 1990s to reuse syringes but was phased out when the outbreaks started.
A federal public health spokeswoman said in an email Friday that the federal government would be convening a working group on the issue.
