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| Former sheriff's deputy says he contracted Hepatitis C at work |
| By Norristown Times Herald |
| Published: 01/12/2004 |
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A former Montgomery County (Pa.) sheriff's deputy was diagnosed with Hepatitis C 18 months ago while still on the job. And, he is convinced he contracted the often incurable, sometimes deadly viral infection that attacks the liver while performing his job although county officials are skeptical of this claim. "Where else would I come into contact with an infected person?" asked the former deputy who asked that his name be withheld in a recent interview with The Times Herald. The infection is spread when blood or body fluids from an infected person enters the body of a person who is not infected, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug users are among those populations considered high risk, according to the CDC. Many of the criminal defendants the deputies transport from prison or hold in the detention cells at the county courthouse each day are drug users, said the former deputy. "And we transport 300 inmates back and forth from prisons to the courthouse each week," said the former deputy, adding that, because of patient privacy regulations, deputies never know whether an inmate has an infectious disease unless the inmate tells them. The former deputy said he subsequently had to resign from the department because the medication he was taking to control the disease made it impossible for him to perform his duties. The diagnosis was "just devastating," said the former deputy. Unable to tolerate the medication protocol to bring the infection under control, the former deputy said, "I just don't have a clue about my future." A liver transplant might be needed, he said. |
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