About 80 students and staff at a Winnipeg school are being testedfor HIV and hepatitis, after the same diabetes testing pen was usedon each person. Southeast Collegiate had invited a University of Manitobapediatrics professor to speak to students as part of a diabetesawareness day on May 4. As part of the professor's talk, he tested blood sugar levels onabout 80 students and staff at the school's request, according touniversity officials. But the professor, who is not a physician and was not authorized bythe university to perform such a procedure, used a glucometer penavailable at any pharmacy. Although the professor did change the lancet the pricking needle between each test, and performed proper sterilizationprocedures, the glucometer device is not intended to be used onmultiple people because there is the chance of infection. As a result, the students and staff who underwent the tests faced asmall risk of contracting blood-borne infections like HIV andhepatitis B and C. "The device the little pen-like device is meant to be asingle-user device. The device itself should not be shared betweenpeople," said Dr. Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg, head of the pediatricsand child health department at the university's medical school. The lancets were changed for each person, Rockman-Greenberg said,but the professor did not realize the pen itself is not safe foruse by multiple individuals. 1st test results to arrive Monday The University of Manitoba has asked the Winnipeg Regional HealthAuthority (WRHA) to test everyone who took the diabetes tests forHIV and hepatitis B and C. Earlier this week, the first group of about 50 affected studentsand staff were tested. They are expected to receive their resultson Monday. All 80 students and staff will have to be tested again in sixmonths. Dr. Michael Routledge, the WRHA's medical director of publichealth, said the risk of infection is small, but it's not zero. "When you reuse the same pen, even if you change the needle,there's a slight risk that you can have virus on the pen cap ...[and] you can transmit that," he said. "I hope that people don't have the perception that it was theactual needle that was reused," he added. "Hopefully that helpspeople feel more at ease." 'Trying not to be worried,' says mother Southeast Collegiate is a boarding school for aboriginal students,owned and operated by nine northern Manitoba First Nations. The mother of one 18-year-old student who underwent a blood testtold CBC News she is angry with what happened, but she hopes herdaughter will be OK. "I'm trying not to be worried for her," said the mother, who CBCNews is not naming to protect her child's identity. "I think she's pretty anxious. Even if they come out all negativeMonday, there's still another six-month wait to find out if it'sgoing to be positive or not." The mother said her daughter is currently studying for exams,hoping to graduate later this month. "She's supposed to graduate on the 21st and she's having a hardenough time to keep up with her exams and everything, and having tothink about all of this at the same time," she said. Some of the affected students' parents are planning to travel toWinnipeg this weekend so they can be present when their children'sblood test results arrive on Monday. 'We're very, very sorry' Rockman-Greenberg said the professor carried out the diabetes testswithout the university being consulted, and it was beyond the scopeof his practice. "This individual is a member of our department and disciplinaryaction has been taken," she said, though she did not specify whatthat action was. "We're very, very sorry about the stress that it has caused thestudents, the parents, the community," she added. The university has also ordered a review of the incident. Officials have not identified the professor who has beendisciplined. Rockman-Greenberg said the professor had assumed that parents hadknown that the diabetes tests would be done as part of the highschool's diabetes awareness day. "The organizing committee, they been working on this for months andwere parents of kids in the school, and they had made the requestin all good faith to increase awareness of diabetes," she said. "Everybody had the right intention." With files from the CBC's Sean Kavanagh and Karen Pauls. I am an expert from 100woolfelt.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China 5mm Wool Felt , White Wool Felt Manufacturer, Wool Felt Sheets,and more.
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