Retired Sydney dentist's patients urged to get tested for HIV and hepatitis

SYDNEY — Authorities in Australia have issued a warning to patients of a retired Sydney dentist who practised for more than 25 years to get tested for blood-borne viruses due to “poor infection control practices” at the clinic. Blood-borne viruses spread when infected blood or other bodily fluids are passed from one person to another, including through contaminated needles or splashes and spatter of contaminated blood or saliva. The New South Wales state Health issued the extraordinary public health alert on Wednesday, advising all patients at Dr. William Tam’s clinic in Strathfield, western Sydney, to see a doctor and ask for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV testing. “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. 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 a suburb in southern Sydney were similarly urged to get tested, with the dentist being barred from practising after breaching infection control standards.