Hepatitis C linked to 'miracle doctor'
By Li Qian |
December 2, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HEALTH authorities are investigating an outbreak of hepatitis C in east and central China, with attention focusing on an unlicensed "miracle doctor" said to have reused needles.
Experts dispatched by the Ministry of Health are tracing the outbreak in Anhui and Henan provinces after 180 people in neighboring townships were infected, the Xinhua news agency reported.
In Guoyang County in Anhui, 76 people - mostly children under 10 - have tested positive. Eight are being treated at a local hospital, though none are in a serious condition, officials said.
Meanwhile, 104 people in Yongcheng City in Henan have also tested positive.
A clinic in Miaoqian Town in Yongcheng has been shut down after its owner, Wu Wenyi, was said to be a "quack doctor" without any medical license, Beijing News reported.
Investigators are focusing on Wu who is suspected of having caused the outbreak through reusing needles, Xinhua said.
Almost all the infected people said they had intravenous injections at Wu's clinic. Parents claim he used the same needle on dozens of children.
Wu, 62, claims he had an official license but has lost it.
He also insisted he used a new needle for each patient. "One needle costs me so little I have no reason to reuse such cheap items," he said.
Wu said patients became infected at other clinics. "They weren't cured at other clinics before they came to me."
Health authorities have found no incriminating evidence against Wu, said an official with Yongcheng City Public Health Bureau. Investigations are continuing.
Wu was dubbed a "miracle doctor" by villagers who believed he could cure fever and diarrhea in children with an injection and home-made medicine, Beijing News said.
More than 90 percent of local children were treated by Wu, villagers said. "Wu was too busy to change the needle," one infected man said.
Wu opened his clinic about 40 years ago, the report said.
Guoyang County People's Hospital has screened some 1,000 locals since November 17, said Niu Chuanxi, head of examination department.
Hepatitis C is spread mainly through infected blood and can lead to liver cancer.
Experts dispatched by the Ministry of Health are tracing the outbreak in Anhui and Henan provinces after 180 people in neighboring townships were infected, the Xinhua news agency reported.
In Guoyang County in Anhui, 76 people - mostly children under 10 - have tested positive. Eight are being treated at a local hospital, though none are in a serious condition, officials said.
Meanwhile, 104 people in Yongcheng City in Henan have also tested positive.
A clinic in Miaoqian Town in Yongcheng has been shut down after its owner, Wu Wenyi, was said to be a "quack doctor" without any medical license, Beijing News reported.
Investigators are focusing on Wu who is suspected of having caused the outbreak through reusing needles, Xinhua said.
Almost all the infected people said they had intravenous injections at Wu's clinic. Parents claim he used the same needle on dozens of children.
Wu, 62, claims he had an official license but has lost it.
He also insisted he used a new needle for each patient. "One needle costs me so little I have no reason to reuse such cheap items," he said.
Wu said patients became infected at other clinics. "They weren't cured at other clinics before they came to me."
Health authorities have found no incriminating evidence against Wu, said an official with Yongcheng City Public Health Bureau. Investigations are continuing.
Wu was dubbed a "miracle doctor" by villagers who believed he could cure fever and diarrhea in children with an injection and home-made medicine, Beijing News said.
More than 90 percent of local children were treated by Wu, villagers said. "Wu was too busy to change the needle," one infected man said.
Wu opened his clinic about 40 years ago, the report said.
Guoyang County People's Hospital has screened some 1,000 locals since November 17, said Niu Chuanxi, head of examination department.
Hepatitis C is spread mainly through infected blood and can lead to liver cancer.
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