Check on clinics after scare

A nationwide check of all district health board dental equipment is under way after a scare that children may have been exposed to the blood and saliva of other patients.

A fault was identified in drilling and suction equipment at a clinic in Pukekohe, south of Auckland.

Public health nurses from Counties Manukau are contacting the families of children who had a procedure involving compressed air, a drill, extraction or suction at Pukekohe Intermediate Dental Clinic between September 13, 2016, and January 23.

The Counties Manukau District Health Board issued a health warning on Tuesday, saying the children – about 2500 – may be at risk of infection. Children will be offered testing for blood-borne viral infections, in particular hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV at specialist pop-up clinics.

The fault was found on January 23 and the clinic closed.

The public were not informed until a week later because Counties Manukau Health chief medical officer Dr Gloria Johnson said it took time to ascertain exactly what the problem was and what, if anything, needed to be done. She said the aim was to get the clearest advice to parents.

Johnson confirmed the issue was with a faulty connection but it still was not clear what happened.

The equipment at fault is checked every few months by engineering contractors and a fault was not noticed until January. The equipment had last been checked in September and at that point had been fine, Johnson said.

She said she understood parents were upset to be finding out the news on social media but it had been difficult to keep the news out of the media while also contacting thousands of affected families.

Johnson said the connection fused together the suction and compressed air systems, which are ordinarily separated, and could have exposed children to unsterilised water. Any saliva or blood sucked from one child’s mouth could have then been blown into another child’s mouth.

‘‘We’ve been assured the risk of anything being transferred was very low indeed, but we felt we should err on the side of caution and offer screening to all children,’’ she said.

Johnson said it was critical for parents to understand the risk was ‘‘very low’’.

‘‘If we do find cases of preexisting infection, then we will prioritise screening for those children who were treated on the same day,’’ she said. – Fairfax NZ