Authorities in Australia have issued a warning to patients of a retired dentist, urging them to test themselves for bloodborne viruses due to « poor infection control practices » at the clinic.
Thousands of patients at Dr William Tam’s clinic in Strathfield, western Sydney may have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, the New South Wales state health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Ministry urged patients to see a doctor and test for such viruses, thought it noted that the « risk is low ».
Tam is now retired and de-registered as a dentist, the statement said.
« The poor infection control practices at Dr Tam’s practice means all former patients may be at low risk of a blood borne virus infection, which can have serious and long-lasting health impacts, » Dr Leena Gupta, the public health clinical director of the Sydney Local Health District, said in the ministry statement.
« People with HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C may not have any symptoms for decades, so it is important that people at risk of these infections are tested, so that they can access treatment as appropriate. »
Gupta said they believed Tam had seen thousands of patients in the last 25 years, but there were no records that could be used to contact them.
Dr Zeina Najjar, a staff specialist in the Sydney Local Health District, told a press conference on Wednesday that Tam’s clinic was audited in April, during which inspectors identified poor cleaning practices and inadequately sterilised equipment.
Tam retired two weeks after the audit, local media reported.
This is not the first time Australian authorities have dealt with such viral concerns.
In 2018, around 10,000 patients in Sydney were asked to get a blood test after potential HIV and hepatitis exposure at a dental clinic in Haberfield. Last October, patients at another dental clinic in Mortdale – a suburb in southern Sydney – were similarly urged to get tested, with the dentist being barred from practising after breaching infection control standards.
